


The Secret Pawn

by freaksout



Series: A game of chess [7]
Category: Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Heavy Angst, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Major Illness, Mental Health Issues, Non-Consensual, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:55:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29396568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freaksout/pseuds/freaksout
Summary: When Jarvis found out that Howard Stark was belting his son Tony, he punched him in the face and got fired. When Jarvis found out what Obadiah Stane was doing to Tony, he didn't hesitate to rush by his side. Because for Jarvis, Tony has always been his almost son, and he would do everything for his son... including die!
Relationships: Edwin Jarvis & Tony Stark, Obadiah Stane/Tony Stark
Series: A game of chess [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2029513
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	1. The butler, the friend

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place right after the last chapter of "The Golden boy/part 2", but it also considered previous events narrated in previous stories of the series "A game of chess".  
> It is understandable alone but to put things easy: someone is playing dirty within Stark Industries; Howard Stark has discovered it but he got killed; after his and Maria's death, 16 y.o. Tony was under custody of his godfather Obadiah Stane, who told everyone the boy is depressed and segregated him away. Nobody (apart from Howard Stark when it was too late) knew that Stane was sexually abusing Tony since he was 12.  
> Jarvis has got fired by Mr. Stark senior, because the butler has punched Howard in the face to stop him for belting Tony. Jarvis has seen Tony only once after that episode, but from he now lives unaware of everything in his new retired condition.  
> Until...

He was keeping going on like always.

He had a fixed routine: alarm at 6.30 AM in the morning, clean the house, prepare meals, go out for errands, pass by the library, read journals on a bench in the park for 2 hours, walk home, have soup, watch TV till 10 AM, go to bed. Repeat.

Jarvis has always been good at self-scheduling his activities and at maintaining calm in front of crazy circumstances. He has been trained as a high-qualify butler, and he has served Mr. Stark senior for the majority of his life. He has witnessed his ups and his downs, his merits and his flaws, the genius and the craziness battling in his head, his composure being lost in alcohol.

He has seen young Mr. Stark being born, he has experienced proud when the boy has walked towards him for the first time, when he has called his name even before the one of his father. He has been proud of him like he was his own son when Tony had created his first circuit, then his first robot, when he has read on the journal that Tony has been admitted to MIT and when he had graduated, the youngest ever.

And he has experienced fear, the kind of fear a parent could experience for his own child when Tony was sick, when he had his terrible nightmares, when he was hurt by no one else than his own father. And he hadn’t care if Mr. Stark was his principal: Mr. Stark had punched his boy, and Jarvis had punched Mr. Stark badly, making him bleeding and shouting on the floor “You are fired, son of a bitch!”. He has replied nothing. He has come back to take his boy from the floor, medicated him and put him in bed. Then, when Miss Stark has suggested it, he had packed his things, caressed the sleeping boy’s head and gone away.

For the first time in his life he didn’t know what to do, and he had passed a couple of days in bed, staring at the void opening in front of him.

Then his phone has ranged and Mr. Stark senior had summoned him at his home.

Tony has already gone to MIT, and Jarvis had wondered for a while what Mr. Stark could have wanted from him.

It had been awkward.

Both men knew each other for a long while, still no one was going to apologize or to pass over what had happened.

Then Mr. Stark told him that he wanted to thank him for his services, and to offer him a golden parachute. He had passed him a large envelope and a more than generous check, in exchange of his complete silence and the commitment not to cross path again with any members of the Stark family until Howard was alive.

Then Mr. Stark had asked him if there was something he could have done for him.

Jarvis had only asked to be allowed to see Tony one more time, because he thought he deserved to say goodbye properly. And then he had parted his way from Howard Stark, a man he has loved and admired once.

He had met Tony for Thanksgiving, and he had to make an effort not to cry in front of the boy, not to tell him how proud he was of him, and how much he loved him and cared for him.

He was happy to see that the boy has finally found a friend in James “Rhodey” Rhodes.

He greeted his way with less pain by knowing that young Mr. Stark would not be alone.

He had also asked the senior guy to call him if something weird happened to _his_ boy, especially if said something was related with Mr. Stane. He didn’t know why but he didn’t like that man. He has never liked him, but in recent time he was just feeling something running down his spine every time he crossed his way… maybe he was just turning senile or being influenced by Mr. Stark senior’s paranoias.

For sure, now he didn’t have to meet neither of them again.

Unexpectedly, he has been called by Mr. Stark junior on his 14th birthday. He suspected he has called him unnoticed, and he asked him repeatedly to meet him. But Jarvis knew that was impossible: Mr. Stark senior would have been extremely pissed with both him and the boy… and he himself wasn’t ready to see him again by knowing he would have had to say another goodbye.

He was only a man, after all.

Then Jarvis has moved away from Manhattan, in a nice and quiet suburb not so far from New York. He saw the high towers from his backyard, and he happy and fine this way. His neighborhood was fine, inhabited by elder people or families with children.

And nothing ever happened. A huge contrast with his life before.

Sometimes, Jarvis woke up by feeling a hole inside at the perspective of not having to cook for young Mr. Stark, or help him with homework (not that he could really help, but only by sitting next to him the boy managed to focus a bit more), or go with Mr. Stark senior around the globe till the Artic in that odd quest to find Captain America’s body. 

Now only silence and monotony followed him in his days.

He was to Mr. Stark’s golden parachute, because he didn’t need to work anymore for living. He could have just remained in bed all day. But still he had imposed himself a rigid time-schedule not to lose his mind: he had read on the risks of old age and retirement and he didn’t want to find himself in hospice before his time.

On Tuesdays and Fridays he went to help at soup kitchen; he regularly do Tai-Chi in the park with a group of neighbors, walked about 1 hour a day and 3 hours on Sundays, no matter the weather.

And when he found a flier of encounters for parents of LGBT+ kids, he started to go to their meetings every Saturday. He wanted to know better this world, to understand what the young Mr. Stark has felt when he had asked him about same-sex couples, and when he has kissed that boy.

It was during one of those meetings that he had heard the word “bisexual” for the first time… and when he has understood to have been an asshole! It didn’t matter if the boy’s real father had probably been worse… Jarvis felt to have done him wrong too!

He only hoped one day to have the possibility to apologize to his boy, to tell him that he was sorry and that he loved him no matter what.

________________________________________________________________

Jarvis hasn’t opened Mr. Stark’s envelope for a long while.

One Thursday morning he was as always having breakfast in his kitchen while listening to the news.

That was how he knew that Mr. and Mrs. Stark have been killed in an aggression while they were trying to reach the airport.

He let his mug of tea falling on the floor when he learnt that another assassination attempt has taken place at Boston MIT, where a laboratory has exploded: several students were reported to have been killed, while professor Hank Pym and the young Anthony Stark, son and heir of the deceased Howard and Mary Stark, were missing.

In the following hours, Jarvis tried to call the MIT, to contact everyone he knew he could possibly have some information on where Tony was. Nobody dared to answer a poor old former butler. He even presented himself to the police, but he didn’t obtain any information.

He was no one for the Stark family now, and he couldn’t have access to any information not already on the news. And the news were all occupied by the assassination of Howard Stark. They said almost nothing about his teen son, apart that he was found at MIT and hospitalized in a deep state of shock after the news of his parents’ death.

“At least he’s alive!” Jarvis thought. He believed that maybe seeing a known face would have helped the boy after the terrible events. But in the news they haven’t said where he has been hospitalized, and nobody gave him this information. So he couldn’t reach him, and Jarvis made his mind to wait for young Mr. Stark to exit the hospital before contacting him again. After all, he has promised to his father not to contact any of Stark family members until Howard’s own death. Coincidence?

In the following couple of days, Jarvis listened to every newscast on every channel. He started to regularly go to the library to read every journal for news on Tony.

That was how, in a little article in the Economic session, he discovered that Obadiah Stane, the former business partner of Mr. Stark, has been nominated CEO _ad interim_ of the Stark Industries, while the young Tony had to come at age.

A few days later, a scandal journal reported that the genius Tony Stark was suffering from depression and severe memory losses as a consequence of the traumatic experiences of the last weeks. He saw the same news on the television that evening, where they transmitted an interview recorded with Stane at the entrance of the Stark Industries lab. And Mr. Stane was reassuring everyone that he would have taken care of the ‘golden boy’, as they still called him, until he would eventually be ready to replace his father in the company with his name.

Everyone believed him, or so it seemed.

But Jarvis has passed his whole life with Howard Stark, and that included also a long acquaintance with Mr. Stane. He knew that he was lying the moment he saw him smiling at the camera.

He realized now why he has always been upset by Mr. Stane: he reminded him of a shark, the human and worst kind of sharks!

He felt anger and frustration rushing inside him as he has felt only one time, when he had found Mr. Stark senior hitting his son badly.

Now the same anger made him mad, and he started to throw things everywhere, making the small bookshelf in the living room crashing down, before he collapsed on the floor in tears.

He tried to calm himself down and made a plan. For sure, Obadiah Stane was not the most pleasant person, but he was taking care of Tony now. So Jarvis was making his mind to call Mr. Stane the day after, to ask him if he could be of some help with Mr. Stark: if the boy was suffering of some psychological disease, he thought, both him and Mr. Stane would benefit by his help and presence around. And maybe that would help Mr. Stark to recover sooner and better.

He was almost persuaded by his own idea, when he saw something among the broken bookshelf and the pieces of papers. It was an envelope and it was still sealed.

He recognized it as the envelope Mr. Stark has given him when they parted their ways. He has forgotten about it, to speak the truth, so he decided that it was time to open it.

He wasn’t really imagining anything about its content, but what he found went way beyond his imagination.

There were documents, many of them private letters, but also top secret projects of weapons made of something Jarvis couldn’t understand and which was referred to as ‘Tesseract’.

There were tapes with different dates on them and the indication of the subjects involved, which in many cases was Obadiah Stane.

There were also sealed envelopes and Jarvis was not sure if he was supposed to open them.

Then he found another envelope, a smaller one, this time with his name on it. It had the date of his last talk with Mr. Stark senior.

Jarvis opened the small envelope and inside there were some house keys with an address, and a long letter, handwritten by Howard Stark.

It was a long explanation, followed by a list of instructions. Jarvis needed to read it three times before getting what Mr. Stark was saying, the implications of it punching him hard in the stomach and making him sick.

The beginning of the letter said:

_Dear Jarvis,_

_I hope you will apologize me for having fired you… and no, it wasn’t for the punch! You were damn right in punching me two nights ago! I am an asshole, and a terrible father… But I can’t deal with Tony… not now at least!_

_And by the way, you gave me the occasion for doing what it has to be done... please, continue to read before jumping at the wrong conclusion!_

_I have fired you because I was drunk, I recognize. I could call you back, and I know you will accept to return to help Tony… God knows if the boy needs you more than he has ever needed me! But I won’t you back, Jarvis, and that’s because I I need you to be out of my life. For good, though!_

_I need you to be free to move without being controlled. And to help me and also Tony from distance._

_Because, you’ll see, I’m in desperate need of help, and I know no one who I can trust! He has hands, eyes and ears everywhere, so that’s really no hope from help from the Government, not even the CIA or associates. The only man I can trust is you… and that was why I need him to think that you and I have parted ways! If he suspected that you knew, you will be in terrible danger! You already were in danger, because you were by my side, and if something has happened to me, it would happened to you as well._

_After all, maybe I’ve saved your life by firing you, haven’t I?_

_But allow me time to explain everything carefully._

_The man I am talking about, the dangerous shadow that has been threatening us all is my friend Obadiah! I thought I knew him, but I’ve been blind at his greedy and his jealousy for all this time! I’ve trusted him and he had betrayed me in the wort possible way, that is by attacking my company!_

_Through the years I’ve become more and more aware that something was out of place: there were small facts, missing documents, weird notes of fees. As you know, I’ve never been able to deal with this part of the job, so I’ve trusted Obie completely! I can’t remember exactly when I’ve started to suspect that he was playing both sides, but by now I know that it’s true: Obadiah is selling my creations, Stark Industries military secrets to international terroristic association, including Hydra!_

_If my friend Rogers knew about that, he would have been mad at me… I am mad at myself!_

_So I’ve collected proofs of his activity, but here we have another problem. I can’t simply go to the CIA or the Government and report that… and not because of the well-being of the company with my name! While I was investigating, I’ve discovered that Obadiah has inside contacts in many parties, Army, the CIA itself. There are tens or maybe hundreds of people connected with him, whom he was blackmailing or corrupting or simply collaborating with. We are talking about very powerful people, Jarvis!_

_The kind of powerful that will kill you and make it sounds a car accident…_

_And I think Obadiah has started suspecting that I knew something. He has found one of my hidden microphones and he has destroyed it. He can’t say for sure that it was me, but I know he wouldn’t take him much time to come to this conclusion. I have still some aces in the hole to play with him… but it’s like a game of chess and I’ve never been as good as he is! You probably remember our games: I always lost with him! He could make better schemes and play with much calm and cold mind that I’d never be able to… so I know he’s winning, but still I hope I’ll be able to take him away from the two thinks I care the most: Tony and my company!_

_As for Tony, I’ve sent him away to MIT. They have already manifested interests in him, and I know he’s more than ready to deal with their level. God, I bet he will graduate in three years at least… he’s such a genius! Sometimes I wonder where he took his mind, because he is way past my level! I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m very proud of him!_

_Anyway, Tony will be good at MIT: he is just a boy, and I don’t think Obadiah was such a monster to include him in his scheme… he’s fond of the boy, you know? Like he was his own! And for Tony is like an ‘uncle’… so, yeah, I prefer Tony won’t see me and his uncle arguing badly over this! And by letting Obadiah take care of Tony like nothing’s happening, we will keep his guard down. I’m confident nothing bad will happen to Tony, after all, and whoever will win between me and Obie he will be fine._

_Besides, it’s about for Tony to make some friends, to exit home and go into a place where his mind would be stimulated. At MIT there’s also my friend Hank Pym and I’m sure he will take a look over him, even without knowing what was going on. I’ll trust him with my most precious creation, and I don’t want to involve my boy in anything of this…_

_So, sorry, old pal, but that leaves you!_

_I’m not asking you to do anything for now, but if something happens to me, I’m sure Obadiah will come after you as well, just to be sure I haven’t set you anything… which, as you may notice, I’ve already done! He won’t act immediately, because of the rumors, but maybe after ten or twelve days you’ll be involved in an unpleasant car accident… which we won’t to avoid, will we?_

_So, here is the plan._

_The keys opened a small apartment, comfortable for a lonely man, in New York. He has been bought under a fake name, which you will find out corresponds to your new fake ID: from now on you are Elmonzo Zante, a former accountant in a small financial emprise. All the details are inside the envelope._

_If you accept to do this, I’m only asking you to keep these documents safe, and maybe other I will have you find in due time. Keep everything safe until a man of trust will come to take them. I haven’t found him yet, but I’m pretty sure there will be someone uncorrupted between the Army and the CIA or other related agencies… I’m trying to contact Agent Carter, but I knew she will be suspect number 1 on Obadiah’s list and every move from my part will make her and her family killed._

_But I just need to find out who to trust, and then this agent will arrive to you. The code is “I’m partial to Italian” (which, as you know, I don’t like much, since I prefer French cuisine!)._

_One last thing: if something happens to me and, I’m afraid, my wife, please tell Tony that we both love him._

_Thank you, Jarvis!_

_Your friend,_

_Howard_

Jarvis stood at the papers for a long while.

He didn’t realize he was crying until he saw tears on his trembling hands.

He couldn’t stop thinking what would have happened if he had opened that letter before, when Mr. Stark has given it to him. He hasn’t told him anything, maybe because he suspected there were hidden microphones in his home and in his office.

Poor Howard: he didn’t know who to trust, and he has failed him too!

But still Mr. Stark was trying to protect him: he has written that Stane would probably come for him ten days after something happened to the Starks. And that has happened more than one week ago so…

Jarvis stood quickly: he had no time to waste!

He collected everything from the envelope, checked twice not to have missed something on the floor. He went upstairs and packed something basic, like his toothbrush…

Then he stopped and thought that he was acting stupid! If they were coming, they needed to think that he has mysteriously disappeared, maybe after a robbery. The downstairs was already messed, so he messed up the upper floor as well, and run away from his house with only a plastic bag with a pair of socks and underwear, and the alarm that Tony has made for him for Thanksgiving. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He had Mr. Stark’s documents carefully hidden under his jacket when he rushed in the street, by walking fast but not running in order not to attract attention.

He need to be cautious and unpredictable to avoid that someone was following him. He knew how to do this from his time with both Howard and Peggy Carter. Despite the danger, a part of his mind was thrilled by this jump back in time.

He changed three taxis and made a large detour. He went out the last taxi really far aware from where he was supposed to arrive. He walked for a couple of hours before arriving at the required address.

It was a nice building, and each apartment was like occupying a floor on his own, since the other apartments were all offices. Jarvis though that probably nobody would care of the neighbors, so it was the perfect place to hide. He made the stairs, since there was no indication of the floor, but it was not a high building.

He arrived at a door on the 4th floor with the bell “E. Zante” on it.

He put the keys in the keyhole and hold his breath when the door opened and he stepped inside.

He turned on the light and he saw a small corridor, which opened on the right on a toilet, and then into a living room. He could see also a small kitchen at the end of the open space. It was a small but very comfortable place, especially for one person alone.

Before he could make other steps, his feet touched some mails on the floor. There were advertisements and some envelopes, on which Jarvis immediately recognized Mr. Stark’s handwriting.

He collected everything and left them on the couch in the living room.

He ended the tour by checking the bedroom, who was fine for one person or a young couple. There was also a small private bathroom in there, with only a toilet and the sink. He was surprised to find that the toilet and the bedroom were fully furnished by everything an average male man could need. Mr. Stark has really thought on everything!

The kitchen also contained some long-life products, even if, as he imagined, the fridge was empty a part from two bottles of water and a bottle of wine.

There was an old note with the handwriting: “Have fun, old pal, but not too much! HS”

Jarvis felt tears in his eyes once again.

He took a sit in the living room and thought on the next steps.

First he had to open the windows because the smell of closed space was unbearable.

Then he had to clean a bit from the dust, since there was everything he needed for this. Cleaning has always helped him relaxing, and he needed that.

It was quite dark outside when he finished.

From the window he could see there were a Chinese, a Kebab and an Italian restaurant on the opposite side of the road. He wasn’t sure if the Italian restaurant was a cue, but he didn’t want to try his luck just then. After all the emotions and the big changes, he felt a bit tired.

He put all the documents under the couch, and went out to take something to eat at the Kebab, where, as he suspected, nobody took interest in an old man ordering some take away.

He went back and had dinner on the couch (a small vice he sometimes had), while he listened to the news. There was nothing worth attention, so he turned to the documents.

He ordered the letters by basing on the date of shipping. He noticed that some letters have been shipped from abroad.

The last letter in order was in reality a postcard of a place in Italy: he remembered to have been there with the whole Stark family (as always), when Tony was maybe 2 or 3. He smiled at the memory of the young kid who was scared by the giant chess pieces. He remembered to have played chess with Tony for many years after that holiday…

On the back there was the picture of a Horse pawn, and a quote: “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.”

He frowned at the date: it has been sent from New York the same day Howard and his wife had been killed!

He made himself a tea (thank the God, Mr. Stark has filled the cupboard with good quality tea), and went back to the other documents.

The vast part was occupied by pieces of evidences and proofs of Obadiah Stane’s playing both sides with some guys at Hydra, and something called A.I.M. There were also proofs he was blackmailing senators, and governors of five different states.

Jarvis felt really sick.

He found a letter addressed to Tony by his mother Maria “For your 18th birthday”. It was dated ten days before the Starks’ homicide, so maybe it was unrelated. After all, Jarvis knew that Maria Stark had cancer and maybe her conditions have worsened and moved her to write this letter to his young son. For respect, he didn’t open that letter and put it aside.

Then he found an envelope inside another with the writing: “Tony – private”. The date was of three months ago only, and it was addressed to him, Jarvis, with few lines written by Howard’s himself, with apparently a trembling hand: “I have never suspected… I know you’ll believe me. Please, old pal, open with caution!”.

He didn’t know why he opened it right in that moment, but what he found inside it made him stop breathing for a long moment: because there were intimate pictures of Tony across time, by starting from when he was a child, naked and exposed for the camera, in many cases on the knees of Mr. Stane. And then there were other pictures way more explicit and pornographic…

Jarvis threw them away like they were burning and run to the toilet. He vomited all the dinner he ate, and he needed a long time before recollecting his stomach and his thoughts.

So that was what was happening! That was the reason Tony always asked him if he could stay with him when they parents were out, the reason he was scared of nights… he has taken it as a child tantrum, but he was fighting a monster! And he hadn’t notice anything! For all this time he hadn’t… and Tony has called him, he has tried to ask for his help… at his 14th birthday the boy was almost crying on the phone for his help… and he has refused it!

“Stupid! Stupid selfish old man!” Jarvis insulted himself.

But there was something weird, and that something was Mr. Stark senior.

“Don’t be paranoiac, Jarvis!” he remembered Mr. Stark telling him, while Jarvis was a bit upset by Tony’s behavior regarding Obadiah.

But Mr. Stark for sure had been an asshole and he had deserved that punch, but Jarvis couldn’t believe that he knew all of that and did nothing to stop that monster from abusing his child! Because he was really odd at manifesting it, but Howard Stark loved his boy Tony!

He went back to the living room, and tried his best to ignore all the other pictures, until he found a time-table that he recognized has been hand-made by Howard Stark and which was titled “Reconstruction of the abuses”. There were dates and indication of where both the Starks and Jarvis were, and whether Tony has been left alone with Stane. In some case the dates reported only a question mark, in other cases there was the indication “PE” which Jarvis realized meant “photographic evidence”. Still he didn’t explain how Mr. Stark had all this material for three months or more, and why he hasn’t killed Stane for this.

The answer was a short letter he found within those monstrous documents. He was written by Stane himself and it said: “Howard, I will think twice before making up a scandal…”

The date was of a few months ago.

So that was it! Stane was blackmailing Howard, because he knew that if these documents went out, Tony’s life would have been destroyed forever. And with him the company too…

And for Howard the company was everything, he has written it by himself!

Jarvis took a moment to check the date of the letters: he deduced that Howard should have found out really late too, some months before being killed more or less.

He had trusted Mr. Stane not to involve Tony in their mess, he had written himself that he was sure Obadiah won’t never touch the boy because he was particularly “fond” of him… that was sickness and madness beyond incredible!

Jarvis understood that this discovery had changed Howard’s plans, rushed them maybe and forced him to do the final move… whatever that was!

The only thing Jarvis knew was that it didn’t end like Mr. Stark senior wanted to.

And now Tony was missing… Worst: he was in the hands of the monster!

Jarvis felt he was missing air at the thought of what _his_ boy was going through, all alone, with the thought of having been abandoned in the hands of his enemy.

He wondered whether Tony knew that Stane has killed his parents, horror adding to horror.

But now the question for him was another: what to do?

From Mr. Stark’s first letter, he was supposed to wait until his contact made the first move.

Has his contact already tried to reach him and failed because he wasn’t there? Has the plan changed over time?

There was no other indication from Mr. Stark’s further letter, the very last being that postcard with the strange quote. It sounds like a biblical quote, so probably he would give him an indication, a code for opening something containing even more secret documents.

And Tony? Would he still be wait and do nothing by knowing what he now knew?

“Not that this knowledge changes things…” he thought in a very painful yet cynic way.

It was at the same point: he could have run to the press and showed them that Stane was abusing the young Stark since the latter was a 6 years old kid, but then what? Sure thing, he could have made everything public, create a scandal and ask a judge to be the one in charge of Tony’s wellbeing from now on. That might have saved Tony now… but at what cost? His life would have been destroyed, and if the judged didn’t assign him to Jarvis, the boy would have ended up in an institution. And there were very small possibilities that Tony would be assign to Jarvis if he made up the scandal!

So, practically speaking, Jarvis would have ruined Tony’s life forever… for nothing! He had almost zero chances he could obtain his custody. Because Jarvis had punched Mr. Stark’s senior in the face and been fired for this, and because Tony was not an average kid but the heir of an empire. Whoever took care of him would have inherited his money as well.

Jarvis’s only hope was that this thought suggested Obadiah to go more cautious with the boy: after all, if Tony managed to talk to a doctor or the social services he would have lost custody, and with that his position within the Stark Enterprises, not to mention the danger he would have put himself with his “friends”. No, for as greedy as he was, Stane was a rational man and he wouldn’t have damaged his ‘golden boy’ as he called him.

With these thoughts, Jarvis lied in his bed with eyes opened, forced by the habit there, but not actually managing to sleep with the images he has seen in his mind.

He knew he was probably forcing himself in believing that everything would turn out fine. But in the end, how many chances he has to go now against Stane and win?

Not many, to be honest!

Stane was officially Tony’s godfather and, from the journals, he knew that he has been officially in charge of him until the boy would turn 18 or maybe more, since there was the rumor that Tony was suffering of some mental illness in relation to his parents’ tragic death. He could only hope that Stane would have been so busy in managing the company to just forget about Tony, park him somewhere, lock him down maybe…

And, conversely, what could Jarvis practically do now?

He didn’t know where Stane has put Tony and he didn’t believe to have the opportunity to find out, even if he would have tried.

So that was not a solution.

Jarvis thought that he had to be realistic, because he had no other solution. For now the only thing he could do was following Howard’s indications and plan… whatever it was! He couldn’t believe that he has left Tony in the hands of that monster willingly, so maybe he had come out with a solution before being killed. And now Jarvis was just worrying for nothing, because Tony was safe, or at least he would have been soon… He didn’t know why but a part of him knew that he was lying to himself. But still what could he do?

So, next things he would have done in the following days would have been to find a hidden place for these documents inside his apartment, to buy something and to start his waiting.

Jarvis took also the note to maybe cut and dye his hair, and to change his look a bit… and also his accent, which makes him immediately recognizable!

He made himself only one promise though: if he ever heard a word from Tony or where he was kept, if he had the realistic suspect his boy was hurt and in need of help, he would have abandoned whatever complex plan was going on, and rushed to save him! He wouldn’t have left his boy in the hands of that monster at cost of emigrating on a remote island alone!

____________________________________________________________________

[40 months later]

It was incredible to think of the time that has passed since he had arrived there.

Nowadays Jarvis was not Jarvis anymore but has completely become his cover identity of Elmonzo Zante, a former financial consultant of Italo-American origins, widowed and childless. He had dyed his hair completely white, despite having still many brown one, and he had also grown a pair of moustache which he had dyed as well in white. He used to wear sweaters and he appeared in everything an old retired silent man.

His imagine now matched perfectly the modified picture on the new documents Mr. Stark provided him.

Once again, in order not to turn crazy, he had imposed himself the same fixed routine he had after having been ‘fired’ by Mr. Stark.

He woke up at 6.30 AM in the morning, cleaned his flat completely (by also checking if anyone has come in unwanted or if there were wiretaps of some sort), prepared the lunch, went out for errands, passed by the library to check the news on Internet, read journals in the park, walked home, had soup, watched TV till 10 PM, went to bed. Repeat.

After the first month, he forced himself in the Italian restaurant, where he tried the code “I’m partial to Italian”.

Nothing happened.

He was a bit disappointed. He later discovered that the restaurant had opened since only three months, while before there was an Ethiopian restaurant. So that was not a clue, after all.

Albeit his efforts to stay isolated, he started to chitchat with the lady who owned a small café right under his building, a Isabelle Hartley. She was the one to introduce him to Betty and other elder people living nearby: they met in the café every Tuesday afternoon to play chess, and on Saturdays they went jogging and then they played bridge. Sometimes they went out dancing too.

Jarvis found out that he needed a distraction, especially after the days turned into weeks and then into months. He also had his own adventures, Stark’s style for the record, especially with a nice lady named Betty. He made clear he didn’t want to be involved in any relationship. He made the scene to have still at heart his former wife; he had also bought a wedding ring at the opposite side of the town, just to make his lie more reliable.

He had become an habit to check on Stark Industries on the economic journals, a fact he could justified from his past work, so nobody really asked about his fixation.

Apparently the company was surviving the absence of the Starks, and when Tony had turned 18 they’ve dedicated only a side article with Obadiah Stane’s declaration on the precarious mental stability of the former golden boy. He would have remained in charge of his well-being, but there was no indication about where the boy was. And Stane was also going to remain the CEO ad interim of the Stark Industries.

And then there was the accident at the Stark mansion: the arson has requested the intervention of many firefighters and it appeared to have been caused by an electric accident. And then something has made it exploding as well, and the house has completely destroyed.

Jarvis had felt sick when he has read it in the public library, by forcing one nice librarian to assist him. She wanted to call for help but he refused: he just needed time to recover his emotions.

He has had only pitiful news, that made Jarvis lost his hope. The sense of being powerlessness was overwhelming him, and only by maintaining his fixe routine he was managing not to fall down in a dark pit. Not that it was easy. But

Then about six months later from that event, he read that the selling of the Stark Industries has diminished, and many prospects were already opening the perspectives of a crisis. Jarvis couldn’t refrained to grin sadly: Stane must have run out of ideas, after having used the last piece of genius both Howard and Tony had left him.

He wondered whether he forced Tony to create something for him now, but the question had a negative answer when, other three months later, the journal and also the TV opened the economic news with a possible crack of Stark Industries.

According to the journalist, the Army was considering revoking their contract after a bad shipment. The actual CEO, Obadiah Stane, was nowhere to be found after having been spotted at the Pentagon a few days before. There were rumors that he has escaped all in a hurry somewhere in Middle East, but nobody knew for sure.

Nobody has also heard of the ‘golden boy’ Anthony Stark in one year, and he hasn’t been seen since his parents’ death. Someone was also hypothesize that the young Stark was also deceased and that the Board council of the company was not letting the news out by fearing a crisis.

For Jarvis it was like the most painful thought and he seriously hoped that was just a bad rumor.

Although he wasn’t sure what would have been better: being dead or having been in the hands of a psychopath and rapist for 40 months now?

________________________________________________________________

In that period, since he had nothing else to do apart from waiting a contact he didn’t know if ever arrived, he had studied carefully Mr. Stark’s papers again and again.

He had also found out other documents assigned to Elmonzo Zante, including a bank account and a dedicated credit card. He had a safety deposit box, inside which he found a mobile phone, like the new ones in vogue now. He needed a 4-digits code to be accessed but he already knew what it was: from the library Internet access he had discovered that, as he suspected, the quote on the postcard was a biblical reference from Ezekiel 25:17, so EZ like “Elmonzo Zante” 2517.

The same code, albeit reversed, gave him access to a second deposit box he had found the indications inside the phone. Inside, there were other documents which he found out were instructions to use both the mobile phones (still something new back then!) and its applications and the instruments inside the second box.

One was a tracker, to be used to localize the origin of calls. Mr. Stark had instructed him to install the device on the phone in his house and to connect it to the mobile. In the mobile there were other fancy applications together with vocal indications of other places.

It was like a treasure hunt, and the codes to access said treasure were all related to shared memories, so he had no doubts that Mr. Stark was exactly thinking on him where he had prepared all of this.

Among other things there were some security cameras and systems with the instructions to install them and then moved them if he eventually decided to move. A thing he couldn’t do or need to for the moment.

It was a normal night when he went to bed after having checked the security system and the tracker. For now he had received only a few calls from his friends at bridge and for some advertising. It was a good test for the device.

So he was quite surprised and a bit upset when he heard the phone ringing at 2:30 AM.

He had always had a light sleep, a necessary characteristic if you worked for the Starks as special butler, especially since Tony has started to wake up with nightmares and he was the only one to maintain him calm.

Still he was very asleep that night when he answered a simple: “Hello?”

There was silence coming from the other side of the phone.

“Hello? Is this a joke?” he asked.

He was growing upset, partly because he was really sleeping well, and partly because he feared that it may be a trap to find his position. He activated the tracker to locate the call: at least he would have known where his enemies were and how much time he had to escape.

He had everything always ready. But still he needed time to track the bastards, so he needed them to stay on the phone. He felt someone breathing hard on the other side, but they weren’t saying anything yet. Was it a maniac maybe?

“I hope you consider what time of the night it is to play a prank!” he said again. The he dared to risk, to lure them to speak: “Well, I hope you pass a good night, whoever you are!”

He felt someone breathing hard again and for a moment he had the feeling he knew that breath.

And then he heard a voice, a soft one like a distant whisper: “Jarvis…”

His heart missed more than one bit. Because that was his Tony! He had a strange voice, but there was no doubt it was his boy’s voice calling him! He would have always recognized his voice no matter the time or distance!

Jarvis was too overwhelmed by emotions to speak, too confused by contrasting feelings, the joy of hearing that he was alive, and the sorrow of hearing his painful breath, to know that he was probably hurt.

He heard him crying on the phone: “Jarvis… please…”

He couldn’t hide his surprise when he called back: “Mr. Stark?”

He needed to be sure that it was him, that he was alive… that he was not turning senile and just imaging things!

But he heard nothing more than hard sobbing.

“Tony?” he called again, while panic was running inside him. How bad was he? Why couldn’t he talk? “Tony, is it you? Where are you, Tony?”

Other painful seconds before he heard Tony, no doubt it was him, panting with a hoarse voice: “Jarvis! Jarvis, it’s me… please… please, Jarvis… help me… I- I don’t know where I am… I… please… Jarvis…”

And Jarvis got perfectly the situation and acted consequently. 

“I’m here, Mr. Stark! I’m coming for you!” he shouted on the phone, trying to sound as calm as possible while in reality he felt anxiety rushing inside. He was bad, probably hurt, he needed him urgently!

“Just stay there! Don’t hang up the phone! I’m tracking you! I’m coming for you, Mr. Stark!” he repeated.

The tracker has started to locate the exact position. Jarvis was extremely glad when he noticed that it was Manhattan, some place near the center, only a couple of hours from where he actually was, or maybe less considered the traffic at this time of the night.

He was calculating everything, including what to bring with him, what the boy would probably need the most, when he realized that he hasn’t received other answers.

“Mr. Stark?” he called with growing despair. “Tony? TONY?!”

“What if he’s dead?” he thought frantically, while his body was reacting autonomously and preparing a bag with some urgent items. “What if he was dying and managed to call me? What if he needed me before but I was there waiting for something impossible?!”

He screwed himself and this line of thoughts. He kept calling Tony on the phone, but there was no answer.

The tracker has worked and now he had a precise address. He was surprised when he noticed it was recorded directly under Stane’s name. And then he remembered: Stane didn’t need to hide Tony, since he was his guardian, so he had all the rights to keep him there.

Did it mean that Stane was going to be there? But then why Tony has called him? Was it a trap? A way to Mr. Stark senior’s documents?

No, Stane was out of town. He had to almost escape in Washington DC and then he had disappeared. There was a rumor on the Internet that he was in Afghanistan or Iraq. So that meant that…

“He has left the boy alone!” Jarvis realized.

So that was his occasion to find him and secure him.

And that was exactly what he planned to do: no matter the cost, Mr. Stark junior’s safety was his top priority!

______________________________________

He disconnected the phone and hide the tracker and the documents in the safe places he had created under the bed, before rushing out the door with his back. It was cold outside but he didn’t matter.

He walked very fast until a public phone from where he called a taxi to pick him up at a short distance from there, near a bus station. He would have looked like a night worker who has finished his job and lost the bus. Even if he wanted to rush to Tony, he still needed to be careful, so he changed three taxi on the way, he paid all by cash, and walked along between one place and the other.

When he arrived at the main building that hosted the luxurious apartments in which Tony was hidden, he had to face another problem: there was security at the entrance and all the people coming in was checked and their presence must be approved.

There will be no chance Stane will approve his presence here, if they somehow managed to reach him on the phone. And if it was true that Tony was still in his custody for allegedly mental issues, he couldn’t authorize him in… and he didn’t seem in the physical condition to do so either!

He thought for a while, until he saw the oldest trick ever, right in front of him: the laundry van!

It was almost dawn and that meant that there will be people around the secondary entrance and ladies and guy around for the ordinary cleaning of the upstairs expansive floors. And he was a professional butler.

It was almost easy to confound among them, to play one of their superiors sent for an inspection to have them opening him the path. They also instructed him on the most expansive floors and on the rooms they randomly cleaned for extra cash. There was one in the upper floors they’ve never entered too, and they didn’t know who lived there. Contrary to all others, there was no name tag on the door, of any kind.

Jarvis felt his heart rushing in his chest, and he noticed they were now looking at him, so he made up the excuse that he had been sent especially to check on that propriety and its owner. He paid the guys in the elevator a very generous tip for their service, hoping that it was enough to keep their mouth sealed. At least they went away without further questions. One of them wished him good luck.

He stared for a moment in front of the door that, with all probabilities, hided his Tony. He could be opened only from the inside, so he tried a gentle knock. He received no answer.

From what he could hear there were no sign of movement, but he suspected the door and the whole flat were soundproofed. Like Stane’s office now that he remembered…

He tried the ring and indeed he couldn’t hear him from the inside, so he couldn’t be sure it was working.

Still he continued to press it, frustration and anger filling him: he knew Tony was behind that door, and still he didn’t know how to access him now that he was so close.

Then he remembered to have another possibility, and picked up the mobile phone and tried to call the same number from which Tony himself has called him. He seriously hoped that Tony has hanged up somehow after he has closed the call… because if he hasn’t that would be a dead end and a serious trouble.

His heart jumped in his chest when he heard the phone ringing. That was good, but still from the door he couldn’t hear a thing, and usually a ringing phone is something audible from the corridors. Unless the flat was soundproofed… that was a good possibility, especially in case of Stane’s house if he was keeping someone in captivity.

The phone kept ringing from his side and a new fear made his way in Jarvis’s brain: what if Tony was unable to answer? What if he has miscalculated and was now standing in front of the wrong door? What if his boy has been discovered before he managed to arrive there and has been moved again?

Panic was running through his mind, when he heard someone picking up the phone, and then a very hoarse and confused voice answering a simple: “Hello?”

“Mr. Stark!” Jarvis almost shouted on the phone, before remembering to lower his tone.

“J- Jarvis?” there was confusion in the boy’s voice on the other side of the phone.

Jarvis remembered what he has read from Howard’s paper, made also through professor Pym’s observations and Rhodey’s involuntary ones: when Tony woke up most of the times he didn’t know where he was or with whom. He must have been in dread panic right now, Jarvis thought.

“Mr. Stark, yes, it’s me, it’s Jarvis! Please, remain calm, sir!” he said with all the calm he could manage. “You’re probably in a house you don’t recognize but don’t worry. I’m here for you, Mr. Stark!”

Silence for a while and then a question, still with a very low voice: “Where?”

“I’m outside the main door, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis followed, hoping filling his heart. “But I need you to open it and let me in… let me in and I’ll help you, Mr. Stark! Please, I need you to open the door…”

“I- I can’t… Master said I can’t open the door… he’ll punish me…” he was sobbing, scared.

Jarvis deeply desired to have the super strength to crash that door opened.

“Master!” he thought. He would have enjoyed killing that bastard of Stane with his bare hands.

“Tony” he said, by calling him with his first name. “I know that you’re scared and hurt, but please… I need you to open the door! That’s the only way I’d be able to save you! Open the door, Tony, and I’ll help you!”

“May I go home then?” There was a very pitiful childish note in that voice that moved Jarvis deeply.

He couldn’t tell him the true, not now, so he lied and said: “Sure, Tony… but I need you to open me the door!”

He knew that Tony didn’t hang on because he heard his hard breathing and panting, and the moans and little cries of pain, while he was probably trying to reach the door.

“He was already near there” Jarvis thought, or hoped.

After what it seemed an eternity, he saw the front door slightly moving, and then opening a bit, while a voice who seemed to come from the other side called him in fear: “J- Jarvis…?”

And Jarvis didn’t waste time, but clash the door open and went in, closing it behind his shoulders before doing anything else.

And then he saw him.

The first thing he noticed was that he was naked, then that he has grown a lot since the last time he saw him. Still his had his childish face and his big brown eyes, which were now opened in fear and in something else that Jarvis identified as hope.

But he couldn’t move towards him for a moment, too horrified by seeing how thin his boy was, how bruised and sored he was in all his body, how he had difficulties in standing and how he was trembling badly, sweating at the same time.

He seemed like a ghost of who Anthony Stark has been.

“J-Jarvis…are you… real?” he heard him calling again, his hands towards him like he was afraid to touch him. Like he believed that he was a ghost.

“He’s dehydrated, malnourished, hurt and abused for months” Jarvis’s mind told him. “He’s probably hallucinating, and thinking I’m only a product of his mind!”

That persuaded him to move forward, to touch Tony’s finger for the first time in years while he said: “I’m here, Mr. Stark. I’m truly here!”

And he saw the boy collapsing towards him, and he quickly caught him in his arms, still surprised by his low weight.

“You’re here!” he heard him whispering on his shoulder. He felt him crying on him, big sobs that shook his sore body. “Jarvis… thank you…”

He fainted right in his arms, scaring him to death.


	2. By your side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis helps Tony to recover and then to move away from the prison he has been kept so far. Meanwhile, the golden boy was thinking of a plan to complete his father's work... a dangerous plan!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for uploading the chapter so late than usual! I hope you like it, because I've loved to write Jarvis being Tony's father-figure and friend despite the situation.  
> As always, sorry for any typos or mistakes that I may have missed!

Tony has collapsed in his arms, but he seemed fine. At least, as fine as his actual conditions allowed.

Jarvis put him on the couch, adjusted a pillow under his head, and checked him for a moment.

He had immediately noticed that he was naked, and wasted, and thinner than he has ever been. But now he noticed the signs on his neck, his shoulders, his abdomen, and his legs, especially in the area close to his genitals. He noticed how his wrists and ankles had blue signs and small scars, like that he was usually chained. He had also a cut that seemed fresh on his left arm, but he was already closing. Still he will need to take care of it as well as of every other bruises.

He frowned at the idea of what that bastard could have done to him, then covered him with his jacket, in absence of something else. He took time to caress his face, that pure face he has loved since when he was born with the same affection of a father. He noticed that his hair were dirty, and he had small traces of wild beard on his cheeks and chin. He has indeed grown up since the last time he has seen him at MIT.

He put a chair next to him to avoid that he fell down during sleep, and then he explored the house at the first lights of dawn coming through the windows. From the living room, there was access to a guest room right on the right of the main entrance, and beside that there was a bathroom, wide enough to contain a small bathtub with shower incorporated. Then there was a direct connection between the living room and the kitchen, who worked also as dining room.

If the guest room and the nearby toilet were cleaned like nobody has never used them, the kitchen was a small mess: Jarvis turned on the light to inspect it better and he noticed the blood stains on the floor that leaded to a kitchen knife. He frowned because it was a very sharp knife and Tony had been lucky not to have cut himself deeper than he had. He noticed a small box on the floor which contained a cheese mousse. Probably the boy couldn’t open it and he had tried with the knife. He must have been extremely hungry… since when wasn’t he eating?

The smell in the sink attracted his nose’s attention: someone has vomited there, and there was also a milk bottle on the floor. Though it was not milk now, since it was very acid and dense. No doubt that Tony had vomited if he had drunk something like this, probably out of desperation.

Still the bottle provided him a useful information. It was not fresh milk, but the kind one that could be bought and preserved in the fridge for three days at least. And the expiration date was of 5 days before.

So, to put it simple, Tony has been alone from 5 to 8 eight days, and he hasn’t eaten anything since a couple of hours before, when he had desperately taken the milk, vomited it, and then tried with the cheese. That too was expired, and had a weird mold on it. Jarvis quickly inspected the fridge and he realized that everything in there but the wine and the water has expired since more or less one week.

And that perfectly matched with what he has heard on television of Stane’s movements away from New York.

So the bastard has left Tony alone to die of hunger and thirsty! Because there was nothing else in that house to be eaten, and surely there must be a reason if Tony hasn’t tried to eat in days!

He wasn’t sure to be ready to go to the main bedroom yet, so he took his time by cleaning a bit. It was an activity that has always had the power of relaxing him: he quickly found the garbage bags, and he threw away everything from the fridge and the pantry.

He made a list in his mind of everything that it was needed, especially in Tony’s conditions, and used the main phone to call the reception and asking for the nearest 24-hours market to order take-away. When he was connected there he dictated his list, and promised a generous extra tip for the delivery directly on the front door of his luxurious apartment in the next couple of hours. Finally, he called the reception to allow the delivery guy access to his floor. He hanged on before telling his name. He could still pretend not to have heard the receptionist.

He checked on Tony who was still sleeping, his breath hard but regular, like he was calm and at peace. He took the mental note that Tony has always been beautifully calm when he was finally asleep.

He knew what he has to do next, but he needed all the courage he had to set foot in the main bedroom.

It was pretty clear already, but still he turned on the lights not to hide anything to his view.

Though the first thing he noted was the bad smell of smoke, sweat and, again, vomit. He found traces of it on the bed, the pillow and the floor. There were also other very human traces that he knew by experience to be solidified cum on the sheets.

And he saw all the other ‘toys’: the chains on the bed, the dildos and buttholes, and the whips and the belts. They were all still messing around, but he had no doubts that it should be more in the drawers and in the wardrobe: he indeed found confirmation of his suspects.

He felt sick and dirty only from looking at those things and imagining the way they have had improperly used to cause pain instead of pleasure.

He also noticed that the wardrobe was pretty empty, since he contained only some big expensive male suits and shirts, which Jarvis recognized being Obadiah’s. There were no clothes the size of Tony, and that also explained why the boy was naked.

Still he found a suitcase in the back of the wardrobe that made him jump. He recognized Tony’s favorite suitcase, the red one with golden stars he had helped the boy putting on it when he was around 3 and they all went to Italy for a summer holiday.

So, Stane had closed him in this room since then! That would make almost 3 years and a half alone with that monster, having to deal with… this!

He fell on the dirty floor, hit by this revelation and its consequences. For long he has hoped that Tony was just fine, segregated but fine… it was a lie he has told himself while his boy was suffering, alone, hurt and scared!

Back in time, with Mr. Stark senior and then with Agent Carter he had visited prisoners of war camps in which they have been tortured for months. In the majority of cases, even when the body recovered, the mind was still difficult to manage: many of them were destined to suffer from regular panic attacks, in some cases from random memory losses and fears.

So, the question was: how much of Tony has been left after all this time alone in the hands of his torturer? Would he be able to have a pseudo normal life after this?

Tony was already deeply scared by nights, and when he woke up he didn’t know where he was and with whom. And he panicked deeply. Those were already consequences of child abuse Jarvis didn’t know about until recent times… and now this!

But yet the boy has managed to call him… so maybe a part of him could still be saved!

He had to take deep breaths not to be overwhelmed by contrasting emotions. He needed to be calm and to act with extreme rationality if he wanted to save Mr. Stark. And that was an imperative, not a hypothesis!

He finished the check in the bathroom, where he was not surprised to find traces of vomit and blood once again. The biggest surprise was the locker in the bathroom, who contained several razors. Indeed Tony’s beard was not long, so that meant Stane ordered him to shave regularly, or maybe he did it by himself. Maybe he did so in order for Tony to look more childish… that sick monster!

There were also two toothbrushes and pills. Having pills in the locker is quite normal, but the quantity scared Jarvis. He went back to the room and inspected the night tables: he found other pills and drops, together with detailed instructions written by Stane’s hand, divided per day. It reported the daily amount of each drug. There was also a journal in which he has also reported the quantity of each drug, and Tony’s mental and physical reactions. It started when the boy was a little older than 6.

“He was experimenting on him!” Jarvis thought with anger.

His instinct was to throw it away, but he stopped himself: that was a proof that Tony hasn’t be cured but drugged. Before many of those drugs were illegal and no doctor could have prescribed these amounts and mix of substances.

Still he threw away the pills, because he didn’t want Tony to feel the need of taking them. It was now clear to Jarvis while the boy hasn’t eaten before: he was experiencing bad withdrawal symptoms so he had no strength to come out of the bed. And judging by the quantity he was used to, that would be still a long way to go. They may have to consult a specialized doctor too...

But now Jarvis had other priorities!

First of all he wanted to move Tony in the guest room, since the bed in the main room couldn’t be saved: if it wasn’t dangerous, Jarvis would have set everything on fire!

He took Tony’s luggage outside and put it in the guest room. He contained Tony’s stuff from college, badly packed by someone in a hurry, maybe. He found a big hoodie inside, one that couldn’t possibly be Tony’s. He remembered that Howard’s memories had told that, according to Mr. Rhodes, Tony used one of his big hoodie when he was scared at night or simply to calm him down randomly during the year. Then Howard had reconstructed that those times paralleled with Stane’s visits.

Jarvis thought that the hoodie was probably going to help Tony again, and left it on the bed even if it seriously needed to meet the washing machine.

He took an extra big covert and went back to the boy.

He immediately noticed that he wasn’t sleeping but he was faking: he had his eyes closed, but his muscles were contracted, like he was trying to find out where he was and who was the man he heard moving around. Jarvis’s heart collapsed at the thought he could misinterpreting him for Stane, so he decided to talk calmly to him.

“Mr. Stark? It’s me, Jarvis! I’m sorry if I’ve awaken you while I was cleaning.”

It worked. Tony suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him for long. He was studying his face, and Jarvis realized he had now mustaches and white hair.

“You’re… different…” the boy told him.

“Oh this? It’s but a masquerade, Mr. Stark. For my and your safety!”

He saw the boy smiling a bit: he was recognizing him, and he was not scared of him. Maybe there was still hope for him to recover.

Then Tony stretched an arm, and Jarvis quickly took his hand. Tony blinked a couple of times, astonished.

“You’re real!” he said. “So I was right… you were there before… I wasn’t imagining, it was real…”

Then he tried to raise a bit but he was extremely weak and tired.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“It’s a flat in Manhattan purchased by Mr. Stane” Jarvis explained. He had considered for a moment the option of telling him a lie, but then he excluded: he needed Tony to trust him.

As he was expecting, though, Tony’s eyes opened in fear.

“NO! Where… Why are you here?!? No, you shouldn’t… I must be alone if he’s not here, that’s a rule! I can’t interact with people alone, that’s a rule! I- You were gone away… he told me… you were death… I need my pills… I…”

Jarvis noticed that the boy was making an effort at connecting dots with his scattered mind: after so many time under drugs, there was no doubt he was confused.

“Please, Mr. Stark, remain calm!” Jarvis said once again by kneeling in front of him. He didn’t realize he has taken both his hands and was calmly patting them while talking. “Mr. Stane is gone … I hope for good, but still there is a possibility he will come back. If this happens, he will find me there with you! I’ll never leave you again, my boy! Not unless you ordered me to… and even in that case I’ll seriously consider whether to fulfill your wish or not!”

He saw Tony listening to him, speechless. He saw his mind making his way to all the information, and get how the situation was and how it has changed.

Then he asked him: “Where have you been Jarvis? Why weren’t you there?”

Jarvis sighed: “I was waiting, Mr. Stark.”

“For what?”

“Your call…” that was partially true, but Jarvis wasn’t now so sure that Mr. Stark senior wasn’t projecting it as well. If not, how could have the boy found the way to call him at that hidden apartment under a fake name?

But now he has more important concerns.

Tony was apparently falling forward, and he caught him in a sort of hug. The boy put the head on his shoulder, like he has done so many times, and Jarvis realized he was extremely calm, with soft tears of probably joy running from his eyes.

But he also noticed the scars on his back, some of them quite deep, from different times, some already white, other more subtle. And some cuts needed to be medicated…

He didn’t realize but he was crying as well at the thought of what the boy, _his_ boy has gone through.

“Jarvis…” he called him.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?”

“I- I’m happy now… and I’m hungry… could we have the cake?”

That made the old butler smile: Tony has always loved cakes!

“Not for now, Mr. Stark. We need you to recover a bit, and to take it slow. I’ve ordered some groceries and they should arrive soon. In the meanwhile, it’s better if you start to drink water, ok? You’re dehydrate.”

The boy nodded, and Jarvis put him sit while he took a glass and a bottle of water that wasn’t in the fridge. He mixed it with sugar to give him energy, but he had to help him drinking because Tony’s hands were shaking. He was really thirsty, but Jarvis knew that he had to keep it slow.

He had seen a can of honey in the pantry, and he tried to give a bit to Tony. He didn’t want to exaggerate though, because God knows what digestive problems the boy now had with all the drugs and the lack of food for almost one week.

“As soon as the groceries arrive, I’ll prepare you a soup and you’ll try a bit of fresh bread” Jarvis explained. “You’ll need simple things to get your stomach used to food again. We need the food to stay down where it’s meant, to give you strength!”

Tony nodded like he did when he was a child and he got the flu, and Jarvis made him the soup and helped him eating it, even if he wanted the cake and not the veggies.

“It’s a thing he made me do” Tony murmured. “Dehydration… starving… I’m used to it… I should recover soon… sometimes he didn’t allow me to eat for weeks… I can’t eat without permission, that’s a rule!”

Jarvis frowned: that bastard had tried a serious brainwash over him to make him incapable to do anything without him, to keep him under his grasp.

“That _was_ a rule…” he heard Tony adding, like a side-thought. “I suppose… those rules are gone… like him… I hope… I wish he’s gone…”

He was again breathing hard, and Jarvis helped him down on the couch again, watching as he slipped into rest. He knew by experience that for the next days, Tony would need to eat and drink little but often, and to rest a lot.

He should also checked on his bruises and help him with a bath, because he smelled terribly.

“One step at a time…” he reminded himself. He couldn’t allow himself to panic now!

Jarvis only hoped he didn’t have internal bleedings or other problems which have required an external intervention, because he couldn’t allow Tony Stark to be seen like this now. That would have make Stane’s plans, whatever it has been in those years, more effective.

He also knew that they couldn’t stay there, that they need to find a safe place far from here, maybe under a pseudonym. But for now Tony was too weak to move, and he had, once again, to wait.

He covered the boy better and raise the heating so that he wouldn’t catch a cold. While he was waiting for the groceries he took time to cut his mustaches and shave in the bathroom. He could do nothing for the hair, but that wasn’t much of a problem. And he believed that his hair has turned natural white after all he saw in the last couple of hours..

When he heard the bell ringing, he checked that Tony was well covered and invisible on the couch. He talked to him a bit, just in case he has awaken and was wondering where he was.

He has already memorized this procedure with him now, to avoid him panicking and help restoring his mind stability.

He didn’t allow the delivery guy in, but collect the big bags with his items, pay with the credit card of Elmonzo Zante, and gave the guy a generous tip.

When alone, he said aloud that he was going to be in the kitchen to organize everything and prepare lunch even if it was only 10 AM.

Shortly, there was a nice smell coming from the kitchen, and Jarvis was mumbling a song while attending at everything. For a moment, it was like being back in the old days, when Mr. Stark senior was in office, Mrs. Stark outside town, and he took care of preparing lunch for young Mr. Stark.

The memory broke when he raised his head and saw Tony Stark now, hardly standing against at the main entrance of the kitchen. He noticed that he has kept the covert over him, and especially on his lower body, to hide the fact that he was naked. That was very good, because it meant that he was already trying to go against all the ‘rules’ that bastard has forced into his head. Because Jarvis had no doubt that being constantly naked was one of those rules.

“It… smells good…” the boy said. “I’m hungry…”

Jarvis went to help him and had him sit at the breakfast table.

“It’s almost ready, Mr. Stark” he said, by offering him something to drink. He noticed that he managed to drink alone, although he was still trembling.

He had prepared him a chicken soup and toasted some slices of fresh bread. Despite Tony’s efforts, Jarvis had to help him eat, but he was glad to notice that he ate easily and well. He gave him more bread, by imposing him to eat it slowly, to chew well to help his stomach. He also gave him some bread with honey as sort of dessert.

He was rewarded by Tony’s smile, one of his big genuine smile he used to address him since he was a little kid.

“Thank you, Jarvis” he said. “I- I’ve missed you!”

Jarvis patted him on the head like he did back in time. “I’ve missed you too, Mr. Stark!”

Then he insisted to take him back on the couch, despite Tony’s protests of having a shower because he smelled and he needed to clean himself.

“He wants me clean!” the boy shouted in protest. He was on the verge of hysteria.

“He is not here, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis replied, patiently. “And I don’t mind your smell now. You’d clean after you’ve digested a bit!”

He saw the boy blinking at him, like he was considering that option. He seemed to him that he was disconnecting and reconnecting to reality every now and then. And he kept touching him like to make sure he was really there. Jarvis wondered how many times Tony has imagined him around coming at his help during these years…

But now they were together again, and Jarvis cuddled his boy on the couch, by hearing his still hard breath over his shoulder. Then Then Jarvis asked Tony if he wanted to watch TV and he saw him frowning for a moment before nodding. That must have been another forbidden thing. But Tony was starting to distinguish between different moments, even if he was still scared that Stane would come back… which meant that the sooner he got him away from there the better for his mind!

After a moment, Jarvis stood to take something to eat for himself, and joined again Tony’s side. The boy spooned against him immediately, like he was afraid to lose him again.

When Tony fell asleep in front of the TV, Jarvis cleaned the kitchen, and considered the next moves.

Surely, Mr. Stark needed to clean himself, and maybe also to cut his hair and beard since they were a mess. And he needed new clothes: there were still the college ones, although Jarvis believed they’d be a bit short for him now. There were Stane’s clothes but apart from the size, he would never allow him to touch Tony again even through his clothes! Last but not least, he had already almost sealed the main bedroom, so no chance to come back in there.

He considered going outside to buy him clothes, but he discarded that idea. If Tony felt asleep again while he was out, he probably wouldn’t remember where he was and they’d have to start again the dance for opening the door. Because after a second inspection he was certain that there were no keys to open the main door from the outside.

So Tony was basically stuck in, and not by chance.

He made a quick evaluation of the boy’s actual size, and then called the reception again and asked for an average clothing store nearby. He called it and ordered some socks, underwear, a pajama, a couple of shirts (the only indication was that they must have been colored), two sweaters, one jeans and two gym pants, and two pair of shoes of different sizes. He made clear that he would have paid by cash and given the deliver guy a generous tip (he had checked to still have cash at disposal, but for now that wasn’t an issue).

As he suspected, Tony panicked a bit when he woke him up. He believed once again to be dreaming, but he was quickly reassured by his face and voice, even if he had to confirm him three times that he was real and that Stane was not nearby. At least for what Jarvis knew.

While they were waiting for the clothes delivery, Jarvis prepared a hot bath for Tony in the guestroom.

It was clear that he would have had to help him with it, despite the boy’s actual age, but he had no prudery: he was a professional butler, and he has taken of Mr. Stark since he was a boy. Besides, Howard himself sometimes had to be taken care of like a child, especially when he was badly drunk.

Now Jarvis understood why he had started to drink like this… still he didn’t justify his abusing behavior, especially against Tony! If he hasn’t treated his boy so hard and superficial… but this was not the time of “what ifs” so Jarvis shook his head and went to help Tony till the bathroom.

Lucky for him, Tony didn’t oppose or was embarrassed by his help. He was so wasted he couldn’t do much, and he stayed perfectly still while Jarvis was bathing him like a baby, including washing his hair. Though Jarvis noted that he wasn’t relaxing, and that he has his eyes closed and he was biting his lips hard from time to time.

He had a sudden suspect: Tony had said “shower” before, not “bath”. Maybe bath was something he wasn’t allow to do… not by himself at least!

“Mr. Stark, do you remember when you were a kid and insisted on playing with that submarine model instead of the rubber ducks?” he told him, cheerfully.

He saw him opening his eyes and blinking in astonishment while he looked at him. Good, it was working: he was disconnecting this episode from previous ones with Stane. Most of all, he was not confounding him with that monster!

“Your father had bought you a submarine model you were so fond of and you carried it everywhere!” he continued. “But still you had that plastic rubber duck… I can’t remember the name though…”

“Duchy” Tony murmured, by keeping his eyes on him. Then he smiled a bit: “Duchy the duck… oh, I remember it now, Jarvis! A yellow rubber duck with a red bowtie… and the submarine! It was a Tench class submarine from WWII… maybe it was quite expensive for a kid to play with in the tub!”

They both scoffed.

“Who knows where it is now…” Jarvis said.

He saw Tony’s eyes turning sad, while he answered: “It’s gone. Obie broke it when I was 10… for my uncooperative attitude, or so he said… he smashed it into pieces and made me throwing them away, one after the other while he was caning me… he said that I had to behave or he would have broken all my toys…”

There were no worlds to add, and they silent while Jarvis kept washing his brave boy while small tears were dropping from the man’s eyes. He has been so stupid and selfish not to notice!

“Jarvis…?” he heard him whispering, like he wasn’t again sure to be awake and not dreaming.

“I’m here, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis told him. “I’m not going anywhere…”

He stopped the self-blaming and focused on his boy’s needs right now. He kept talking to him while he washed his shoulders and back, by noticing how Tony hold his breath, while he was passing on the scars and bruises still there. Some of the cuts needed medication because they seemed a bit infected, with yellow pus in it. They were not huge ones but they needed immediate attention.

He told that to Tony, who nodded, again with eyes closed.

“Try to breath, Mr. Stark” Jarvis recommended, while he cleaned the bruises with disinfectant. “I know it hurts, but it will be over soon. Keep breathing deep… in… and out… good! You’re doing great, Mr. Stark!”

“He- he used a whip…” Tony murmured between one breath and the other. “Last time… he hit me hard… He was mad at me… I’ve done nothing, but he was really upset! I- I don’t remember why but he seemed scared too… He told me it was my fault… he told me my projects had flaws… I don’t know what he was talking about… and then he received a phone call and run away…”

The boy shook his head. “I was lucky, Jarvis… lucky he hasn’t chained me this time… I would have starved to death… that… that’s an horrible way to go, I feel… I’d prefer a single shot, right in the chest… in the head it’s dangerous… you could end up worse than death…”

“Don’t say that, Mr. Stark, please!” Jarvis urged him, with a bit of anxiety in his voice.

But Tony looked at him and smiled. “I’m not planning to end my life soon…” he said. “Don’t worry, old pal!”

Jarvis frowned and he felt tears in his eyes: because with that “old pal” and that smile for a moment Tony has remembered him of his father Howard.

He tried to hide it by saying aloud: “I’d prefer you’ll refrain from calling me “old pal”, sir!”

Tony has laughed a bit but then he has nodded.

Jarvis had to help him out of the tub, because the boy was feeling his head dizzy. It was normal after a hot bath, considering that he was still very weak and in need to eat.

He promised to prepare him some snacks as soon as he has cleaned the bathroom.

He has just put him sit on the side of the bed, when the bell rang and Jarvis had to go outside the room to collect the delivery.

When he went back he found Tony standing naked in front of a full size mirror he hasn’t noticed in the corner of the room. There was something in his behavior that made Jarvis frowned: it was like Tony wasn’t recognizing himself, like he was trying to match the image he had of himself with the one reflected in the mirror.

“Mr. Stark?” he called, trying to break the weird spell.

“Jarvis…” he heard him calling back without looking at him. He sounded really astonished. “How… how old am I now?”

Jarvis’s heart sank: that was it! He hasn’t realized yet how much time has passed. He didn’t remember what has happened and for how long. Maybe he had believe to be still the young 12 years old boy who went to MIT or something…

But he needed to answer him, so he swallowed heavily and said: “You’re 19 now, Mr. Stark! 19 and some months…”

He saw him swinging and gasping out of air. He run towards him and helped him sit on the side of the bed.

He noticed that his eyes were opened but that wasn’t dread: he was focused! He was trying to remember!

“That… that means… 19… I- Wow! okay… that’s a lot… I can’t remember… it’s all so confused…. I- I went to MIT at 12, I remember father driving me there. I was scare, lonely… till I met Rhodey… Rhodey!” he exclaimed by looking at the hoodie still on the bed. “He was my friend… where is he, Jarvis? Is he fine?”

Jarvis nodded. “I’m not sure, but last time I’ve checked through the library internet, Lieutenant Rhodes was doing great in the Army!”

Tony was astonished but glad to hear that.

He nodded: “That makes sense! He must have graduated too… I graduated at 14, youngest ever… My father was there, Jarvis! I remember he seemed so proud! He was talking with professor Pym… and…”

He gasped again and took his head by mumbling: “No… no… no… it’s not true… it couldn’t be true…”

And Jarvis didn’t know what he was thinking about, but he suspected. He sat next to him and hugged him to anchor him to the present and made him feeling protected.

At Tony occurred several minutes to calm down, before he dared to ask: “Jarvis… where’s my father? Is he… is he safe? And my mom? May we… May we go home now?”

And Jarvis tried, he tried to be detached, but he was crying when he answered: “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. Your father and your mother have died more than 3 years ago now… they were murdered, they said… and you were at MIT when there was an explosion in your lab. Professor Pym is still missing too…”

Tony was sobbing hard, his face in his hands. “I knew… I thought it wasn’t real… I persuaded myself it was a nightmare… another of his lies… but it was true! My father… my mother too… He told me everything, but sometimes I didn’t believe him! He told me you were death as well, but here you are! He told me he had sent his man Rumlow by your house… he told me I was alone, and that I have to behave or he would have killed my friend Rhodey… he told me I have no place to go because…”

He looked up at Jarvis and shouted. “Tell me this isn’t true! Tell me he didn’t do that! Tell me we can go home now! I- I want to go home now, Jarvis!”

But Jarvis couldn’t lie to him, despite how painful it was. “I’m sorry… again… I’ve heard it on the news one year ago, more or less… your house, the Stark mansion, has burnt to the ground! They said… they said it was arson, but they never found the guilty… I didn’t dare to go there to check but they said there was nothing left… I’m sorry Mr. Stark…”

Tony wasn’t moving, just staring at one point in front of him.

“One year ago…” he said. “So that was when I’ve turned 18… I remember now… I remember I’ve tried to tell that man that he was torturing me… it was a doctor or so he said… I remember that doctor didn’t believe me… I remember what he did to me later… he told me that I’d pay for that…”

His fists were trembling, but not in fear: that was anger! He was furious, but still weak, so after a moment Jarvis felt him swallowing under his arms.

“Please, calm down, Mr. Stark!” he told him gently. “I know… I know it’s hard, but you need to focus on recovering. That’s the first step…”

After a while, he nodded.

“Why don’t we get dressed and then eat something?” Jarvis proposed.

Tony bitten his lips but nodded again. “Could you help me?” he asked. “I- I don’t know if I can do it alone… being dressed was against the rules… and I feel so weak…”

“Of course, Mr. Stark! Don’t worry about that! We do like we used to when you were little, do you remember? I’ll take care of you! I’ll always take care of you! Here, now. I’ve just ordered you some clothes…”

They managed to have him dressed with gym pants and everything. Only the shoes were one pair too small and one too large, but for now socks would have been enough. Jarvis removed his shoes as well, to match with Mr. Stark’s condition, and that made him smile a bit.

Then Tony insisted in having Rhodey’s big hoodie, and Jarvis didn’t wish to negate it, even if he considered the necessity to throw that thing in the laundry… one step at a time, though!

He helped Tony on the couch, and prepared some snacks, including the strawberry milkshake which has always been the boy’s favorite.

He found him on the couch, knees under the chin but still, focused. He was breathing hard but he was anger again to dominate him.

He put the tray on the table in front of him and sat by his side, just waiting for him to collect his thoughts.

“He ripped me away of everything!” Tony said after a while. “He killed my parents… he burnt my house… he took my company! He has always wanted his name on the company, he told me himself the first night he raped me… I was 12… there were the fireworks on New Years’ Eve… I didn’t manage to stop him… I still don’t know why he did what he did… but it doesn’t matter now! Now I have you… he didn’t take you away from me!”

He had turned towards him and he was smiling warmly at him. Jarvis nodded with a knot in his throat. He knew he was crying a bit when he answered: “I’ll always be by your side, Mr. Stark!”

He didn’t know why he felt it, but he added: “And as for the company, he hasn’t put his name on it. It’s still Stark Industries, and you’re still the CEO. He has been nominated _ad interim_ by the Board meeting, but he couldn’t change the name or the ownership!”

That sparkled a new light in Tony’s eyes and he said: “So the game is still on…!”

And Jarvis frowned to his bones.

_________________________________________________

It took Tony around three days to manage to stand and walk on his own, even if he was soon fatigued. But after the first nights of anguish they both decided that it was necessary to move from there as soon as possible.

Jarvis has hoped that Tony could manage to sleep on his own in the guestroom while he took the couch. But it was immediately clear that the boy (he would still call him like that) was terrified.

They fell asleep together, but then Tony woke up in the middle of the night screaming, and it took Jarvis a good 20 minutes to persuade him of his identity.

First he took him for Stane, that was obvious, and was deeply scared. He tried to frantically remove his clothes while he kept saying “Please, Master, don’t punish me!”.

Then he took him for a ghost, or some fake made-up memories.

“I’m screwed… I’m so screwed…” he mumbled in his arms when he was finally persuaded that he was real.

Jarvis needed to reassure him and said: “You just need time, Mr. Stark! The pills and drugs he gave you were enough to wipe up your mind forever. But then here you are! You may have still troubles from time to time, but you’re doing great in only one day!”

He wasn’t really persuaded, but at least he has stopped trembling. When he heard that his breath was calm, Jarvis put him down on the bed and covered him up.

He needed a tea and to think on a strategy.

For how he was seeing things they didn’t have many options.

He didn’t know where that damn monster was hiding, but sooner or later he would have come back or sent his men to get rid of Tony’s body, if he believed him death. Probably he wasn’t acting because he believe him death or in the process of dying, and he wanted to be sure of it. But eventually they’d found him by their door… his door! That was his house, after all!

Jarvis remembered that Stane was the only one with the keys to enter, so he blocked the door with a chair. But he was not satisfied so he decided to move there one armchair as well.

He noticed to have been a little loud, and indeed he found Tony’s head popping out the guestroom with an interrogative look on his face.

“Mr. Stark, I’m…”

“Jarvis, I know you” he interrupted him. He looked around and said. “That’s Obadiah’s house… but I’m dressed and you’re there, blocking the door. So that means that Mast-… I mean Obie! He is not here…”

He addressed a small smile to Jarvis. “Sometimes I remember… the majority I don’t… it really depends on the right side of the coin I guess…”

Jarvis noticed that he kept glanced at where the main bedroom was.

“There’s no one else, Mr. Stark” he said. “Do you wish to go back to sleep?”

He shook his head.

“I’m hungry” he stated. “I’m sorry… I know it’s late… but could you…”

Jarvis looked at his watch. “Actually, Mr. Stark, it’s 4:30 in the morning. So it’s actually either very late or quite early… And I never mind an early breakfast! I’ve bought your favorite jam, if you want to!”

“Blueberries!” Tony exclaimed excited. Still, he needed help to reach the kitchen.

During breakfast, Jarvis told Tony everything he has done since the last time they met. Tony laughed a bit at the name “Elmonzo Zante”, and he supposed that his mother would have had something to do on that, since she wanted to name her baby “Elmonzo” when she got finally pregnant. That was what she told Tony when he was little. They laughed at the awkwardness.

Then Tony looked him in the eyes and asked: “Tell me one thing, Jarvis. When did you find out Obadiah was abusing me? Because, you see, when I told you that he raped me when I was 12 you didn’t raise an eyebrow… so, I guess, you already knew that… how?”

Jarvis frowned not for the question but for the implicit. There was a flash of coldness in those big brown eyes he loved so much, and the painful idea that everyone has betrayed him. He couldn’t do anything else but telling him the truth.

“That’s right, Mr. Stark, I’ll tell you everything” he said, by sitting in front of him.

He told him about the envelope he forgot for so long, the meeting at MIT for Thanksgiving, how he had tried to contact Mr. Stane after Howard’s death, to offer him to come back as Tony’s butler to take care of him. And finally he told how he had found the envelope again, and how in the new house of Elmonzo Zante he has discovered several other documents on Stane’s illegal activities… and that included proofs of his abuses over Tony since he was 6.

“Your father must have put the pieces together and found evidences. They were and are a double-edge sword, so he wanted to secure them. He sent me different things and hide others with riddles to be solved… that’s how I found a device that allowed me to track you there… and other things that I’ll show you when we’ll go there.”

Tony appeared really relieved. He smiled at him and said: “I’m sorry, Jarvis, for having doubted you…”

“No, you were right, Mr. Stark! And I am the one being sorry for not having noticed anything! You were always scared at nights… and you’ve stopped laughing much… I should have known!”

Unexpectedly Tony went close to him and hugged him. “You’ve been a father to me… sometimes more than my real one, Jarvis” he said. “There’s nothing to forgive… the guilt is on Obadiah not on you, or dad or anyone else… I love you, Jarvis!”

That took the old man completely aback, and he didn’t know what to say or do for a while.

So they stayed like this, and he had to confess that it was just like be back in time, with baby Tony confounding him for his dad or believing of having two dads and a mother. And he remembered that Howard made fun of that, but he was not so secretly jealous.

Then Jarvis felt that Tony was swaying a bit, and helped him back in bed.

He knew he had many things to do, but for a moment he just looked at his brave boy sleeping.

Tony slept till noon and by that time, Jarvis has cleaned the house and was preparing a simple meal for lunch, since Tony’s stomach was not ready for something too elaborated.

After lunch, they spent some time in the living room, with Tony watching as always three or four programs at time, and Jarvis switching to a natural documentary when they boy fell eventually asleep. It was a nice and peaceful sensation.

But Jarvis knew he couldn’t last, and he was not surprised when on the third day, Tony asked him to go away. He felt better and didn’t want to stay where he had painful memories… and with the fear that he might return.

Jarvis proposed to go back by his place, to continue the masquerade as Elmonzo Zante with his nephew. They could have moved abroad, maybe. Europe would have been nice, maybe Italy...

He knew he was a desperate effort but he needed to try: he had sworn to protect the boy, and now he knew exactly what was running in his mind. He knew him since he was born, and he has passed his life with his father. He could recognize a stubborn Stark when he saw one.

And by Tony’s silence he knew that he wasn’t going to like it.

“Have a sit, Jarvis” Tony said, by looking at a point on the floor. “We need to talk… because now you have to take a decision, and I want to make things clear and easy for you!”

“As you wish, Mr. Stark” Jarvis said but he was already frowning inside. He recognized that tone: that was Howard’s stubbornness.

“I’ve listened the news, and nowadays Stark Industries is screwed!” Tony was saying. “I don’t know the details but I can imagine Obadiah sold something he saw on my or dad’s projects but his engineers didn’t get how to put it together… nobody could really read our projects, that’s our big flaw… or safety, in this case! As I heard, Obadiah is in East Asia now, and he’s expected to refer to the Board meeting 10 days from now. So that’s our time span! As you said we can act two ways: I can buy both me and you a new identity, we run away someway and try to live normally, by hoping they didn’t follow us for any reason. Or...”

Jarvis didn’t like what that “or” carried on. And indeed he heard Tony saying: “Or we could fight back! I will take back my company, and, in due time, prove all the crimes committed by Obadiah and his associates, no matter how high-ranked they are! I’ll crash them all down and clear my company’s name!”

Tony looked at him, and Jarvis noticed he was calm not fanatical or delirious. He didn’t know how he has done it, but the boy must have already elaborated a plan. And now he was asking him to join his side.

“What do you have in mind, Mr. Stark?” he asked.

He was expecting a long explanation, instead Tony asked him: “Do you remember that summer in Italy, Jarvis? The town with the gigantic chess square and how I get intrigued by chess?”

“I remember you were scared of the big pawns” Jarvis smiled a bit. “And then you played as one of the pawn... but you were eliminated almost immediately! You were so pissed that your father tried to explain to you how to play chess. Obviously you rocked it, but your attention issues prevented you to focus too much. Still, you came out with brilliant strategies!”

“That’s because I’ve a branched mind, and I think on different options at the same time!” Tony explained, but he was pleased by the compliment.

“What has chess to do with this, Mr. Stark?” Jarvis dared to ask after a while.

“Everything, Jarvis! This is a game of chess, and it has been a game of chess since the beginning. I’m not sure but my father did something not completely transparent at the end of the war, and Obadiah had to help him out… by seeking help by his guys in the mob or worst. I don’t think that dad realized the consequences until quite late, maybe at the same time he send me to MIT, if I’m guessing correctly. That was his major mistake!”

“Sending you at MIT?”

Tony shook his head. “No, not considering me as part of the game! But since I was born I’ve entered the game… unwillingly, but that’s rather the point! Obadiah recognized this fact and ate my pawn almost immediately… sorry, that was a bad sexual joke!”

He tried to smile, but his hands were shaking.

“Big breaths, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis recommended and watched as he calmed down.

“You told my dad sent you the image of a pawn the day he died” Tony followed. “He did the same with me before sending me back at MIT. He hoped that I’d be safe with professor Pym, but he had miscalculated once again. And when he realized his attack has failed, he tried to take my mother and run away… but it was too late! Still, he had his secret pawn in you. Obadiah suspected that you must have been involved somehow, so he sent Rumlow to eliminate you. I was still alive, and he couldn’t kill me or he would have raised major suspicions. So he turned it in his favor: with me alive but mentally screwed, he could have played the part of the generous and caring godfather, not raising suspicions on his involvement in my parents’ death. But now he has made a mistake, and the remaining white pawns have gathered together. So a new game is starting…”

Jarvis swallowed: the metaphor was good, but the reality was different and far more dangerous.

Tony looked in his eyes and followed: “I want to start this game again, Jarvis, because I know I can avenge my father and mother, and take my company, the Stark Industries, back on its feet! That was what my father wanted me to do… and that’s what I want to do! But you… you have entered this game without knowing and without having word on it, because my father didn’t have time… so now that we have time I’m asking you: would you join my side and be one of the pawn in the game? If you refuse, I’d perfectly get it! You’ll create a new identity, one I’d never know and hide somewhere calm and safe. I’ll make sure nobody will ever bother you until the end of your days!”

That was a serious offer! Obviously Tony wanted and needed him by his side, but Jarvis was sure he was being honest: he was really offering him a possibility. And what did he want in his life?

Take care of Mr. Stark has always been his job… he wouldn’t stop now!

“I am and I will always be by your side, Mr. Stark!” he said.

But Tony was not persuaded: “Jarvis, I need to be extremely clear. This isn’t going to be a quick game with time, but a series of different moves and counter-moves in the span of years. My father told me that I lacked focus and patience to play chess… and then he himself has screwed up for having rushed things! I won’t make his same mistake. But that meant that sometimes I’ll lose or I’ll need to lose on purpose … that means that I’ll have to sacrifice my pawns… every one, myself included, if necessary! It’s called gambit…”

Tony was looking at him like he was asking him to say “no”, to refuse to be part of this scheme, to choose his life over the one of an arrogant and foul boy he had raised like a father and that was now screwed after years of tortures and abuses by his godfather.

“Which pawn will I be in your metaphor?” Jarvis asked him.

“The horse… the Queen’s Horse” he explained. “I’d be the King’s Bishop, since the King is the company. I’m working on the other pawns, but if I am assuming correct, Hank Pym is one of the Tower, and Rhodey will be the other… he knew nothing of this, and his only fault was to be my friend! But still, he has entered the game and I have to consider it part of it…. even if I hope I wouldn’t have to use him! And, Jarvis… I wish I could do the same with you, but it’s impossible! Please, Jarvis, forgive me… I…”

He was crying, and Jarvis felt his desperation growing inside him as well.

He knew what Tony was trying to say, the plan he had made in his wonderful mind: he must have evaluated different possibilities, calculated percentages and paths in these days. It occurred 12 years old Tony Stark less than 3 minutes to solve a complex physical equation made up by professor Pym. Now 19 years old Tony had had 2 full days to think about it, even if after 3 years of imprisonment, drug and physical abuse.

But Jarvis was sure that it was the only possibility, and that if Tony was so hesitant in asking him, if now he was crying loudly, it could be only because he knew how the game was about to go… and which pawn was going to be sacrificed!

Jarvis looked at his boy with tenderness and affection: he had indeed been lucky in his life, to have raised a brilliant and caring young man, despite everything that has happened to him.

He kneeled in front of Tony and took his head in his hands, forcing him to look in his eyes.

“Whatever it takes, Mr. Stark, I’ll always be by your side” he said, then he closed eyes and joint their foreheads. “I’m proud of you, Tony! And I love you, son! These feelings will never change!”

They enjoyed the moment for a while, until Jarvis moved himself away, and still looking in Tony’s eyes he said: “Now tell me, what should I do?”

And Tony nodded at him and answered: “Whites move first… then it will be game on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some cross-reference with "The ballad of the red-haired girl"... and personally I've found the scene of the mirror the most powerful one. What do you think?  
> Also, by following a friend's suggestion I'm working on a "What if..." one-shot series to be add at the official end of the series. Like "What if Rhodey has manage to call Jarvis?" or "What if Jarvis never left his home after the Starks' death?". If you have ideas, feel free to share them also in a private message!
> 
> Next chapter "The path of the righteous man" coming on Saturday!


	3. The path of the righteous man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jarvis and Tony managed to leave Stane's apartment without letting anyone know where the 'golden boy' is. While Tony made up his plan, Jarvis made his mind to never leave his boy's side... whatever it takes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to have delayed this chapter but I was stuck with work -.-|||  
> Btw, this chapter recalls some of the events of "The golden boy / part 2", especially as they happened in the first chapter. And there is also a figure they almost met outside Zante's apartment that you might figure out who is.  
> Hope you like this, and, as always, apologies for language mistakes.

Jarvis was not saying that the plan was stupid. He wouldn’t dare to say to a Stark that his plan was stupid.

But that it was crazy, yes, that he could and he did say to young Mr. Stark when he was explaining the next moves he intended to make to lure Obadiah Stane and his associates into a full confession.

The general point was not only to get rid of Stane: that could have done Jarvis himself or also Tony with a gun. But they needed to clear the Stark Industries and the Stark name to any alleged affiliation with terrorism and international traffic of weapons, other than mob affiliation. Tony was sure that those were all things Stane has done, and Jarvis confirmed it from having read Howard Stark’s documentation so far.

The major issue was that Stane’s contacts also included high ranked people in both the Army and the political life, not to mention some journalists, intellectuals and doctors (like the one who has ‘visited’ Tony twice during the past three years). For sure they could incriminate Stane for drug abuse and tortures, not only on Tony but also on Stane’s wife and secretary, a Kanma Chander which Jarvis remembered having entered Stark Industries as brilliant intern before Stane has insisted to have her as his personal secretary despite her young age and lack of expertise.

For sure there have been other who had suffered the same destiny, Mr. Stark was sure about that, and from the reading of the diary Jarvis has found in the night table it was pretty obvious that Tony was just one guinea pig among others… maybe his favorite one, but still a guinea pig!

The most incredible thing was that Tony has now remembered almost all of what has happened to him during the past 40 months. He has remembered Stane’s discourses, the phone calls he received, and also the men who have visited him that awful night: it has been a gang-bang involving a still underage guy, and five people, other than Stane, which included three board members, one well-known senator and a colonel of the air force.

Jarvis had started to tremble while Tony was telling him what had happened, his eyes fixed on a point far away from him: it was like he needed to free himself of that burden, but at the same time it was astonishing the level of details he remembered.

Jarvis felt his stomach was upside down and for a long while he couldn’t say a word when Tony has finished to talk.

“I’m sorry…” he heard the boy whispering. “I shouldn’t have told you that… it’s not like you could do something or what… It was just…”

Jarvis swallowed. “I won’t say that I’m fine, Mr. Stark, because I’m not” he said. “However, I’m glad that you’ve talked to me… and I’ll be here if you ever need to talk about this or similar related issue. It won’t be easy, but I’ll do that for you, Mr. Stark! It’s… it’s better to take that out, and then to forget!”

“But I don’t want to forget!” Tony replied. “Not now, at least. I need to remember them, all of them, and to remember the details. I need to be extremely precise if I want to win this game in the end… and then we will see…”

Jarvis nodded: it was painful but it made perfectly sense.

“May I ask you just one question, Mr. Stark?”

“Sure, Jarvis!”

“How… how do you manage to remember everything and tell it like it has happened to someone else? Because, you see, it looked like you were witnessing everything from an external point of view…”

“Ah that!” Tony half-smirked. “I don’t know the right word but it’s a sort of personality split or detachment. It started when I was 12… I think it’s related to traumatic experiences! To put it simple it’s like there’s another me in the room when these things happen. So when it’s over and I’ve recovered, I recollected the pieces and I have a full vision of everything… it didn’t happen for a while because he kept me drugged! But while their effects were disappearing I saw “him” again… or “them”… there are more than one… Anyway, I guess that’s why I’ve remembered everything!”

Jarvis was no psychologist but he was pretty sure that the boy would have needed professional help when this mess would be over. He would have needed professional help himself as well if he managed to survive long enough! A thing easier said than done in light of the actual situation!

Because it was obvious that they were alone. By Howard’s documents and Tony’s memories, the extension of Stane’s network included also members of the secret services, the Pentagon and God knows how many other international governmental agencies.

To complicate things, they didn’t know who had betrayed Howard Stark the first time and got him killed. He must have been someone very high ranked, someone Mr. Stark senior firmly believed he couldn’t be a traitor… and yet he has betrayed him. So whoever that person was, they had to move with extreme caution.

Or, as Tony himself was explaining, to create a huge show to hide their true intentions.

The plan was indeed in line of creating a huge rumor around the “return of the Jedi”, as Tony phrased it, while smiling at the pop culture reference. Jarvis has rolled his eyes, but he was internally pleased to see the boy so focused despite his physical conditions were not optimal yet.

The first step was to go away from that apartment, settle down in a new one, and from there prepare for the big return of Tony Stark at the Stark Industries lab, where he would casually meet some journalists and also some of the main contractors inside the Army who have turned their back on the company. Tony would have persuaded them to sign again their contracts with Stark Industries, in exchange of some “candies” (as he called them) he would have provided them at a special price.

Then he would have kicked out from the board some people, three of them in particular, by blackmailing them if they refused to do what he told them.

And then Tony would have lured Obadiah back in: he needed to be sure to have the old man still partial in charge, to trust him like he had trusted his father. He would need him to low his guard, in order to get access to the documents that Howard Stark has failed to collect, to prepare everything and to understand who to trust and who to fear.

Or, to use Tony’s metaphor, to find out the other pawns in the chess game and to have them playing by their side. They needed someone inside the CIA or the Pentagon, but for now they didn’t know who to trust.

“What about your friend Rhodes, sir? I’ve heard he’s making a name in the Army, at least by some news I’ve read on newspapers recently!” Jarvis asked while he was preparing something for lunch.

Tony had insisted with cheeseburgers and fries, but the old butler has replied that he would not allow sir eating such junk food under his watch!

“Rhodey is in the Army, yes, but…” Tony replied. “I don’t want to put him more in danger than how he already is! Besides, everyone will immediately suspect him to be helping me, and, if I know him right, as soon as he found out what has happened to me during these years, he would drag me away and put me under custody… to save me, okay! But he will damn my company and my name forever! I’m afraid to say but my old man was right: everything a Stark does or does not will reflect on our company! And I will take care of my company! I’ve sworn him, Jarvis…”

“I know, I know, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis replied. He was a bit pissed with Howard for having made the boy making such a promise. But he knew that Tony loved creating things, and that without the company he couldn’t have done that… and that would have simply killed him.

However there was a small thing he liked to point out: “Don’t you think, Mr. Stark, that you are using your friend for your own purposes? Don’t you think Mr. Rhodes deserved better?”

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men” Tony quoted with a grin. “Ezechiel 25: 17, like you told me…”

“What does it mean?”

“It means that you are the righteous man, Jarvis… and I’m not!” he stated. Jarvis noted for the first time that Tony’s eyes sometimes look older than his actual 19 years. “And as for Rhodey, I know I’m not being fair to him… but as for other people I may cross my path with, I will need them to do things they didn’t understand… and they will be in extreme danger if they knew what they are doing… so better if they don’t!”

He looked down and added: “Once all of this will be over, I’ll ask Rhodey to forgive me… or to punch me in the face like you did with my father… I will deserve it, I am already deserving it! But for now, I need to make sure that Rhodey is safe and that it does his life! I need him to be the pawn I won’t use until the final strike… and for that I need to entrust him with some of the documents we will find in Obadiah’s servers once we come back!”

Jarvis nodded. That would have been his role: while Tony entertained the journalists and the Board by making the show of the return of the golden boy, he would have sneaked in Stane’s office and collected the evidences through a device Howard himself had designed and send to him through the years.

Tony had got immediately what Jarvis was talking about, because he had helped his father perfecting that “key”, even if he will need to upgrade it before they could strike back.

It was a dangerous plan, and they needed to act before Stane went back from East Asia.

So they were already running out of time.

________________________________________________________

The first thing they did on the dawn of the third day was to collect everything from that house, and to move to Jarvis’s apartment even if for just a couple of yours.

It was the most dangerous move so far, but the alarms he had installed were Stark’s design and they would have send a note to his mobile in case someone had broken in. And they needed the documents that were hiding there.

They went out around lunch time, when nobody paid attention to an old man with his nephew exiting from the secondary door and taking a random taxi.

Obviously Jarvis has assumed again his identity of Elmonzo Zante, and Tony was supposed to be his nephew Costanzo (Jarvis was starting to think that ‘bad naming’ was a gift running in Tony from his mother’s side, since Howard simply named things ‘things’).

Under Jarvis’s suggestion, they didn’t want not to attract attention, but to attract the right type of attention. That was a thing Mr. Stark senior has perfected through years. So during their way on the taxi, Costanzo overtly lamented in fake Italian accent that his uncle didn’t allow him to eat proper NY food, and the taxi driver suggested them the best places to eat cheeseburgers and hotdogs, including one small pub near the docks. So they were pretty sure that the driver would have remembered them like the foreigner guy who was visiting his old uncle and wanted to eat American cheeseburgers.

The first unplanned thing happened when they arrived at Elmonzo’s apartment.

One of Elmonzo’s friend, a Betty something from bridge, was casually passing by and was really interested in knowing his nephew Costanzo. Jarvis noted that Tony was quite tired, and needed to rest; also his feet hurt because he had decided for the smaller shoes.

However, the boy was really amused to find out that Betty and Elmonzo must have been more than just friends. She greeted them with a wink, after disappearing in their usual café.

“Sooooo Betty, eh?” Tony had asked him with a smirk, when they’ve finally reached the safety of their shelter.

Jarvis blushed but tried to maintain his composure. “Well, Mr. Stark, I don’t think I need to have to justify with you my encounters…” he said, by noticing that the British accent was emerging again.

Tony was laughing like he hasn’t heard him in a while: that warmed his heart!

“I got it! You’re not a monk!” the boy said. “Still, for many years I’ve believed that you weren’t simply interested…”

“Just because I’ve always managed to keep things private, it doesn’t mean I didn’t _fondue_ every now and then!”

“Fondue??”

Jarvis doubled his embarrassment. “That was a think your father used to say… he told me that he had this joke with Captain America himself!”

Tony faked disgust. “Now I’m creating a bad image in my head… thanks, Jarvis, really!”

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Stark!” he mocked him. But then he looked at him seriously said: “On this topic, I wish to tell you that it’s okay… I mean… It’s okay if you like both girls and boys…”

“Oh!” the boy seemed speechless, a very unusual thing on Tony’s part. He was pretty confused too when he asked: “Why are you keeping this up now?”

“Because I’ve hoped to have the possibility to apologize to you” Jarvis stated with a soft smile. “I did you wrong… no, it’d better to say I’ve been a dumb idiot!”

“Language, Mr. Jarvis!” Tony exclaimed, but you may tell he was really pleased. “Thanks, Jarvis… It means a lot…”

Jarvis nodded. Then to go beyond the embarrassment he said: “Let’s collect your father’s documents and plan the next moves. I’ll order take-away for dinner… any preference?”

“A pizza would be nice! No freaking pineapple!”

“I’m not a barbarian!” Jarvis joked with a smile.

He remembered when they went in Italy and Howard has ordered a pizza with pineapples… the butler had to cover little Tony’s ears to spare him from the argument that had followed. That was how the boy learnt many Italian swearwords. From now on, Howard has always put pineapples on pizza on principle, while Tony has hated them… another thing that made them different.

While Jarvis made the order and prepared the luggage, Tony was studying the documents his father has collected.

He was making aloud comments, when he suddenly stopped talking.

After a couple of minutes and after having called him twice, Jarvis run out from his bedroom, fearing what the boy must have found.

“Bloody hell!” he swore to himself. “How can I be so stupid?”

Indeed, the boy was looking at the pictures and the letters inside the envelope titled “Tony – private”. He was studying the time-line his father had built and he was trembling… in anger!

“He didn’t know, Mr. Stark” Jarvis tried to say. “Your father has discovered when…”

“When he found me under Obadiah’s desk with his cock in my mouth, yes!” Tony replied, coldly. Then he shook his head: “I’m sorry, Jarvis, I didn’t mean to be rude with you! I- I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis said, by sitting next to him.

Tony immediately put his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes, lost in his bad memories. Jarvis hold him tight and waited until the boy spoke again.

“For a moment I thought my father was going to kill me…” he remembered. “He had been mad when I’ve kissed that boy, so I thought… but I was wrong! You should have been there: he shouted at Obadiah “Stay away from my son, you monster!” and he punched him so hard… That’s when I got that I wasn’t alone! Obie had made me believe I had no one but him, but that wasn’t true! I wish I’ve known back then… I wish to have told my father about what had happened on New Year’s Eve… I wish to have told everything to you when I’ve called you for my birthday… I was looking for your help but I was unable to ask… Whatever… what’s done is done!”

He stirred and put everything away in the envelope again.

“We can use some of this, but it’s a double-edge sword, as you know” he said. “So we will put it away somewhere. We need also to divide these documents in different groups and secure them. I need a digital copy of them in case the papers went missing… I think that was also the reason while he burnt down our house!”

“I agree, Mr. Stark!”

“I just… I’m sorry for Dummy! I wanted him to meet his brother R and maybe creating other robotic kids…”

“Do you mean your robot arm?” Jarvis asked. “It’s not gone! It’s at MIT together with the other one you built there! They were on the journals couple of months ago for having set something on fire… they are in the undergrounds or something…”

“REALLY?!” Tony couldn’t be more happy.

The pizza arrived just on time.

They ate it quickly, then, after a small nap from Tony’s part, they prepared to leave again. Tony had indeed another apartment under his name that Maria has purchased and he had sent the keys to him in the letter for his 18th birthday. She has written down other things, that Tony mumbled partially aloud while reading: that she had cancer, different types and she knew not to have much time left; that she was proud of him, and that she loved her brave boy no matter what, and she was sure he would have done the right thing when the moment would have come.

Jarvis saw that Tony was washing tears from his eyes and passed him a napkin.

He waited until he was ready, and then he redirected his attention to their new destination. The flat Maria Stark has bought for his boy was a nice penthouse in the city centre, and by judging from the name and the position Jarvis was sure that must be a concierge service.

There was just a small detail: Tony didn’t have documents with him! Would the janitor recognize him and give him access? Would he call the media when he saw the young Stark coming back to his flat after three years since his disappearance? Would the social service come in five minutes after them because the boy was still under custody and his godfather missing?

Too many bad case scenarios in his humble opinion.

“I had an idea!” Tony smirked.

Then he asked to borrow his phone.

________________________________________________________________________

When they’ve said goodbye to Elmonzo Zante’s apartment and identity, they took a taxi to the new one.

While the driver was helping them with the luggage, Jarvis noticed a weird man standing at the corner, near the Italian restaurant: he was a tall black man with a black leather jacket, but what was really peculiar was that he wore a blind fold on one eye. He was speaking with the owner of the café under their building, and they both stopped and looked at them while they were getting in the taxi.

Tony must have noticed too, because he gave the driver another address and urged them to go.

“Friends of yours?” Tony asked while they were going away.

“Don’t think so…” Jarvis answered. He knew the owner of the café for being very discrete, but he hasn’t seen the man before around there. And he smelled like a secret agent from a mile. Maybe they’ve just dodged a bullet.

“Better be safer!” he told Tony, while asking the taxi driver to stop at a different place. From there they took the subway (to Tony’s major amusement!) and then another taxi until they reached their final destination.

Jarvis noticed that there was a bunch of journalists just beside their palace, and they all seemed to wait for someone. He saw the concierge of their building outside as well, too interested on what the journalists were saying and looking for to mind an old man and a boy gently greeting him before entering the building.

“What’s happening?” Jarvis asked when they were in the elevator.

Tony giggled: “I’ve called some scandal journal and I’ve told them that Mark Hammill and Carrie Fisher were hiding in a private flat with George Lucas to discuss about a new Star Wars chapter without Harrison Ford!”

“You… what?” Jarvis was surprised but also impressed. “You’re really…”

“DON’T!” Tony shouted, with a sudden change in his attitude. “Don’t call me “naughty boy”!”

Jarvis frowned. “I was about to say that you’re really full of surprises, Mr. Stark!”

“Oh!” he said, by lowering his head. “Sorry… that was something he said… sorry…!”

He patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, Mr. Stark! Don’t worry. We’re almost there… and then you need to rest!”

They arrived at the top floor, where they discovered there was only one door with an alarm on.

“Do you know the code, Jarvis?”

“I- I was hoping you knew that…” he admitted. That was another problem!

But Tony thought about it for ten seconds, and then pressed four digits. The alarm was deactivated and they could use the keys to go in.

“My birth year reversed” Tony explained, by shrugging his shoulders. “Dad always put the simplest code in the most important things. It was the less obvious one by considering the genius… so dumb to be smart, I have to say!”

The penthouse was really something nice, with a huge open space, a big guest room with private bathroom, another service bathroom in the corridor leading to the main room who also had a huge wardrobe and a toilet that was almost the same size as the guestroom.

“That’s enough for my ass!” Tony exclaimed.

“Language, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis replied, but he was quite impressed himself.

As in Elmonzo Zante’s apartment, here as well they found everything they could need for immediate use. There was also an official note of the concierge who said that the cleaning service passed twice a week (and that explained while everything was clean and the room smelled fresh), but that the owner could pay for extra service if needed.

“What now, Mr. Stark?” Jarvis asked while he was unpacking.

Tony was once again observing himself in the mirror in the room. Jarvis considered if he was talking to the other “selves” he has referred to before. At least he was not speaking aloud.

He turned towards him after a while and asked: “Could you cut my hair? They are a mess!”

Jarvis nodded: it was a thing he usually did with young Tony, and he had randomly helped Miss Stark with her curlers.

Without asking, he kept talking during the whole time he needed to fix Tony’s hair. He knew the boy appreciated it, because he smiled back to him.

“Thank you, Jarvis!”

“Do you need help with something else… like the beard?”

Tony shook his head. “I’ll do it myself now… I try at least” he said. “Could you just stay here in case… well, in case I cut myself or had bad memories?”

“Of course, Mr. Stark!”

“But please keep talking so that I know that’s you and not him! I- I get confused sometimes…” he continued. “He shaved me regularly… I wasn’t allowed to touch the razors… he shaved me… everywhere… he was obsessed with my pubic hair and my beard! He said that he wanted me to look like that child in front of the fireworks the first time he… SHIT!”

He has cut himself. Jarvis was ready to fix it, and then he took the razor from his trembling hands.

“How do you want it, Mr. Stark?” he asked.

“I was thinking in moustache like yours… well, like the ones you had when you arrived at the flat… but then I thought I would be creepy, ‘cause I don’t have a mustache face! Still, I want to look older! I want to be different from the boy they’re used to… I don’t want to look like that child at the fireworks’ light anymore!”

It was pitiful but determined.

Jarvis looked at him professionally for a moment then said: “Uhm, I think I know what you mean… would you allow me?”

He was a bit hesitant, but then he nodded, and sat on a chair that was nearby. Jarvis noticed he has closed his eyes and was breathing hard.

“Look at me, Mr. Stark!” he told him. He saw fear in his eyes, as if he was battling with memories. “Keep looking at me while I tell you a story, okay?”

“Okay, Jarvis…” he was making a big effort.

And Jarvis kept talking about times that were gone, times in which they’ve been happy, in which there were no ghosts, no monsters, and they were having fun together by looking at the pictures in that mechanic book kid Tony had desperately wanted.

“You were so fond of that book, Mr. Stark, and you made me read it aloud while you played with the constructions!” he remembered. “That was your favorite book, together with that fairytale with the knight in his golden armor…”

“He had a red cape too!” Tony remembered like a revelation. “Dad used to read me that book before I fell asleep…and we have created other stories with him too… Sometimes I wanted to have a red-and-gold armor to destroy my enemies and fly away!”

“I’m afraid knights don’t fly, Mr. Stark!”

“Well, they should!” the boy replied, stubborn.

“Well, if you say knights can fly, I’m sure you’ll make them fly!” the old man replied with a paternal smile. He remembered they’ve had the same arguments many times, always following the same script. It was one of Jarvis’s pleasant memory of Tony’s childhood. Now the child has grown up, like his new look demonstrated.

“Now, look at yourself!” he told Tony. “Do you like it?”

Tony stood and fixed astonished his reflex in the mirror: Jarvis had ordered the mess on his face into a nice goatee with soul patch, that made him look very polished, modern and… well, yes, definitively less childish!

“Good lord! I’m fabulous!” he pleased himself.

“And most of all you’re modest!” Jarvis mocked him, but he was pleased by his reaction.

“Jeez, Jarvis! Why don’t you open a barber shop? You would be rich!”

“I’m rather fine with my actual life, Mr. Stark. But thank you!”

They had many other things to do, but it was evident that Mr. Stark needed to rest again. The small he had at Elmonzo’s apartment hasn’t been enough and they have had quite a day!

Jarvis changed the sheets while Tony showered and then he went to bed. Despite the early hour, he fell asleep almost immediately.

Jarvis unpacked other things and checked the pantry and the fridge: as he supposed they were empty. He made a small calculation, and went out to go shopping a bit.

They needed fresh food, and Mr. Stark also needed other clothes and most of all, shoes, since he now knew the right number. He bought him a pair of red sport shoes that screamed his name, and a shirt, tie and jacket from a boutique, then he went on buying some food.

He smiled when he saw a very expensive bakery with decorated cake: when he was a kid, Tony always put his nose on the shop window to see the decorations on the cake. For one Christmas, Jarvis has asked the baker to allow the kid inside his lab to see how cakes were created. They also allowed the kid to help decorating his own cake, which then Tony and Jarvis ate with Maria Stark back home. Tt has been the most beautiful Christmas present Tony has ever received, or so he told him years later…

He went back home, and he was not surprised when the concierge opened him the elevator door without a word. He must have been used of people coming and going with errands: the social class of people living there must have been indeed quite high.

He entered the apartment whistling, and he organized his purchases by starting with the kitchen.

He was still whistling, when he went to the bedroom. And here he froze: the bed was empty, and apparently Tony was nowhere to be found. Did he went out alone? Did someone go in and kidnap him? Was that monster waiting for them to make their moves?

Then he noticed that Tony’s shoes were still on the side of the bed, and that excluded that he has gone out alone. But there were also his pajamas and his clothes… so what had happened?

“Bloody hell!” he swore aloud for the first time in years.

“Jarvis?” he heard a voice coming from behind his shoulders. When he turned, he saw the wardrobe opening and Tony Stark emerging, naked again.

“Sorry…” the boy said, ashamed. He put on his underwear. “I- I woke up… didn’t know where I was… Then I heard someone whistling… I thought it was him… He- he always whistles… But I was dressed… I thought… Shit! I’m sorry… I’m just screwed…”

He was too relieved to find words, and just hugged him. “It’s okay, my boy! But now get dressed before you catch a cold! I’ve bought you something more apt to your image. May you want to try it on?”

Tony nodded in enthusiasm: he had always loved to have new fancy clothes to try and change. That was clearly one aspect of his personality Stane had tried to erase from his mind.

The clothes and the shoes fitted him perfectly this time. He needed to tan another bit, but those clothes faked well his condition. He could appear like an average young man now. The beard and the haircut helped a lot.

With those clothes on his attitude changed overtly: he seemed confident and also a bit arrogant in his way of looking at the mirror. Jarvis was sure it was a façade, but it was a good one.

“I should wear sunglasses!” Tony said by posing in front of the mirror. “Weird ones… I should design them to have my tech systems incorporated!”

Jarvis came closer to fix his tie.

“You should design something to constantly have me to fix your tie, Mr. Stark!” he joked.

But Tony’s eyes were deadly serious. “You know, old pal? That’s a wonderful idea! I should create an alternative version of you… a digital you… we can call him J2!”

“Please don’t call me “old pal”… and don’t call my other self with a weird acronym!” Jarvis faked his disappointment.

It was glad to see Mr. Stark so emotional and in the aim of creating something. Although it was not sure on what he meant with “an alternative version” of himself, but that didn’t mind. Tony was already babbling of artificial intelligence, on auto-learning circuits and variables, and that was just like being pushed back in time.

“Why don’t we continue the discussion in the kitchen while I make us dinner?” he proposed.

“Uh? Yes, that’s another wonderful idea! I’m starving! Any chance of having that cheeseburger with fries?”

“Not tonight, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis replied. “However… I may have a surprise for you in the fridge!”

“What is it?” Tony asked, curious like a kid.

“Well, let’s say that I saw a fancy bakery on my way back…”

He saw him frowning and for a moment he had a horrible feeling.

“You… you didn’t buy pastries, do you?” Tony indeed asked. “Not pistachio pastries at least…”

Suspicion confirmed! “I guess that was something he forced you to eat…”

“More or less… let’s say that when I woke up sometimes it was the only thing he gave me to eat… and only if he had been particularly rough the night before… like to make amend…”

They said nothing for a moment, while Jarvis was swearing again at himself to make that bastard pay for everything, including having ruined something Tony was so fond of, like pastries. However, Jarvis remembered that Tony preferred lemon, not pistachio.

“Are there pastries, then?” he heard Tony whispering.

He shook off the bad thoughts and smiled at him.

“Try again, Mr. Stark!” he said. “I give you a little hint: it’s something you always ask for… and we love eating together!”

He saw his big brown eyes opening in happiness.

“The cake!” he exclaimed. “Jarvis… did you buy me the cake?”

“You? Oh no, Mr. Stark! I bought _us_ a cake… and a decorated one!”

“I want to see it!” he cheered running in the kitchen. “WOW! That’s amazing!”

Jarvis thought that sometimes it was worth living just for these small moments of happiness.

________________________________________________________________

It took them another two extra days of preparation.

Jarvis went out to buy Mr. Stark a proper suit for the event, and went shopping on electric systems and other stuff which Mr. Stark has requested. Every time he came back home, he stated his name aloud to reassure him in case he has fallen asleep. He has taken the habit to leave a note on the night table or on the couch, just to avoid him panicking. Tony had much appreciated it. Still when he woke up at night, sometimes Tony just went to Jarvis’s room and spooned against him like he did as a child. Jarvis let him doing it without a wonder, cuddling him to sleep again and carefully managing not to wake him up too early the following morning.

“Five more minutes, Jarvis…” Tony sometimes yawned, with his face in the pillow Jarvis has just left.

The man smiled at him and ruffled his hair, before fixing the coverts over him and starting his working day. He went out to buy fresh bread and sometimes breakfast, and also to buy the freshly printed journals of the morning. He provided Tony all the copies he could find of journals dedicated to economics and politics. Tony read them all while watching TV and eating his breakfast.

In the morning of the first day, in two hours he has assembled something that looked like a book with a screen.

“It’s a pad” he said. “Do you know internet? You can usually get access in libraries or similar spots… with this you can access it at your home… well if I found the connection, which is a secondary trouble. For now I’m using one of the Stark Industries satellite and re-direct it, but we need to launch a new line of them! That’s the future! Mark my words, Jarvis! Five or ten years from now, everyone will have internet at home, or even while travelling, why not?!”

Jarvis could swear to have got half of what he has said, but he nodded, proud of his boy.

Tony proceeded by gathering information and dictating him down. Lucky for them, Jarvis has also bought notebooks and pencils.

By evening they had quite a scheme of the top ranks of Stark Industries, and Toy has found dirty on many of them. He also found possible connections that Stane hadn’t and that would probably talk with Howard Stark’s son. Someone still owed him something from WWII.

He looked also for professor Hank Pym but apparently he truly had disappeared. Jarvis noted that Tony was extremely sad. He had discovered that Pym has been the first one to notice that there was something wrong in Tony’s behavior and has suggested to his friend Howard that someone was maybe abusing the boy. He had also guaranteed for Tony’s roommate Rhodey and pointed the finger to Mr. Stane. He probably didn’t expect that kind of monstrosity, though.

“We may need to find Pym sooner or later… or, more probably, he will find us” Tony told Jarvis during dinner. “He had my armor’s schemes and other projects! I’ve called him in the lab and gave them to him with the recommendation to disappear. He had other materials from my father as well, he said. It was the night of the explosion at MIT… I knew something bad was going to happen because my father sent me a code on the pager: 1871200… that is you phone number in the shelter! The secret pawn hides under the clock he had said…”

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Stark, but you’re saying that our reunion was based on a riddle you were supposed to solve by being heavily under drugs?” Jarvis was astonished.

Tony shrugged. “My father was a genius, what did you expect?”

Jarvis thought that they had been terribly lucky, even if Tony insisted that it was a calculated risk, and that surely his father couldn’t expect what has happened next.

“The point is” Tony continued “he was aiming at the airport, but he wasted time to take my mother with him… but why the airport? He knew something so terrible that he had to leave the country in a hurry?”

The last thing they knew about Howard Stark was that, from his agenda, he had a meeting with a certain A.P. in Washington DC few days before he sent Tony back to MIT. Tony remembered that Stane had made a joke about his father managing to get out from Washington alive. Was this A.P. a friend or a foe? Howard Stark went back so maybe he has found an ally… but then why was he shot after less than a week? And why Maria was with him instead of remaining safe at home?

There were unsolvable questions for now.

Tony worked almost all time after dinner. He had to create something to amaze the public tomorrow.

They would have made the announcement to some trusted journalists a couple of hours before the show, not to give time to the others to organize… or so they hoped.

The general plan was not to play against Stane, but with him to save the company. Or, to put it in Tony’s metaphor, they were using the white king to lure the black one to discover his pieces and maybe sacrifice some minor pawns.

If Stane understood their trick, he would have killed them without mercy in the next days. If they fooled him, he would have come by their door and accept Tony’s truce.

The boy was confident on this second exit, especially because he has planned to involve some of the Army still loyal to his father’s memory and thus more open to give Stark Industries a second chance, and to probably react if the young Stark would have disappeared again.

All things considered it was a good plan, even if Jarvis was skeptic.

He didn’t like the consequences of that truce with Stane: it would have meant that Mr. Stark would have to deal with that monster regularly at work… and Jarvis wasn’t completely sure that Tony would not have ended into his webs again, to use an euphemism!

“Of course I will!” it was the astonishing answer of the boy when the old butler expressed his doubts on the plan.

“I- I beg your pardon Mr. Stark?” Jarvis asked, by hoping to have misunderstood.

Tony looked him in the eyes and answered with a cold tone: “The whole point of this plan, contrary to my father’s one, is to make Obadiah believe that he had everything under control, that I’m not a menace for him… he might discover our moves from time to time, but in general he must not suspect neither the amount of our information nor the fact that we are playing a long-term game, and we have planned his reactions… more or less I mean… I still hope to be wrong on some points…”

His sufferance couldn’t be more evident. Jarvis believed that it was for what he would have had to endure… and that was simply unacceptable to him!

“Mr. Stark, listen to me very well!” he stated. “I told you I’m on your side no matter what… but you can’t seriously believe that I will stay silent and do nothing if he tries again to touch you! I won’t allow him close to you neither with his little finger!”

He didn’t realize he was shouting.

Tony stayed silent for a long time, and for a moment Jarvis thought to have scared him. But then he saw him taking a piece paper and drawing a rough Wenn scheme.

“Every action has an equal opposite reaction, they said” he stated, plainly. “That’s bullshit! Because in our case, reactions could be ambivalent. And every action will lead to a personal choice, a choice that Obadiah himself will have to make… I’ve made some assumptions on his favorite path by basing on his psychological profile, and on the way he acted before. But in the end we will have to wait for his counter-moves… his reactions will determine our following actions! But the end will always be the same… at least that’s what I’ve calculated! I seriously hope not to have missed a variable there… but there are really lots of things that could go wrong. In that case, all the data we have collected will get out public, all of them…”

“In which case?” Jarvis dared to ask, even if he felt to know the answer.

Tony smirked sadly. “In case I’ll die, obviously!”

Then he showed him his scheme: it was pretty clear on the different outcomes and how everything was related. It was indeed has he has just explained: they made a move, and based on Obadiah’s counter-moved there were different possibilities… it was indeed like a game of chess, only that this time the boy was trying to predict the plan of his opponent.

“I can do that because I had previous records on how he plays” Tony explained to him. “If my father hadn’t started this game and failed, I wouldn’t have enough data to base my hypothesis. And then we had the past three years… he has a method, you know? He’s very systematic, and that indicates that he doesn’t tolerate variations in his plans, he’s not quick to adapt to a changing environment. Most of all, he believes that I’m powerless, and that my efforts will only reflect my desire to be acknowledged by adults in my life… like a childish tantrum, you see? That’s his major flaw! So his reactions will be a consequence of this belief… I’ll be stubborn on some points, he will punish me.. and I’ll play along, while the other pawns will move in the backgrounds…”

Jarvis observed the scheme. There were indications for two white horses, one of which with a big question mark, as well as the one on the Queen. The two towers had a minor role until the white Bishop eventually disappeared from the scheme. There was a low probability marked on that branch.

“That’s in case I die!” Tony explained. “As I’ve said, if I die I want this material public… so we will make sure that Rhodey and Pym are authorized to use them. They are the two towers!”

“And are you sure Hank Pym is still alive and on our side?” Jarvis asked.

“Oh he’s alive! And I know perfectly where he is… at least, I have a couple of options: he is either in a very small flat somewhere around one of my property, or still in the quantum realm. I tend to exclude the second because we were not sure on how to navigate it… still he might have found a solution for that!”

Jarvis was really astonished: that was really more than what he can understand… but one thing it was clear: this boy was not a kid anymore, and he was ready to go the hard path no matter the costs.

For the first time he felt confident: one way or the other, Stane would have been defeated.

The problem was the cost of that victory: because there was no chance at all that he would allow his boy to go through the same hell he went during the past three years!

He was about to say that aloud, when he noticed something on Tony’s scheme. At some point during the evolution of the different actions, one white horse disappeared. And he was pretty sure that it was the pawn associated to himself.

“What does this…?” he tried to ask, but he noticed immediately that Tony was biting his lips and trying not to cry. “Mr. Stark?”

“That’s why I’ve asked you if you really wanted to stay…” he replied. He pointed the finger on a point on the diagram. “That’s the point of no-return! After we proposed our truce, we will have about 1 year and a half, maybe less but surely not more. During this period, Obadiah could do two things: accept the state of affair, enjoy his life and leave us alone until you eventually die of old age… or try to re-establish the status quo! Basing on his profile, there’s only a slight probability that he will take the first path, but who knows? Maybe something happened and he may consider to retire from international criminal organization…”

Jarvis scoffed: that was rather an option if he knew the subject! And his last actions indicated that he was manipulated too.

“I agree” Tony added like he was reading his mind. “So my hypothesis is that he will try to re-create his network and to isolate me. That means that he will start to substituted people in the new Board committee we are going to establish in the following weeks. If he started to do that, than the following move would be having me in his claws again… because that is his way to establish his dominance and to impose his control. But, as you overtly stated, you won’t allow this to happen… and he knows it as well as I do…”

He was pointing on a point of the scheme with the writing: White Horse sacrifice.

It took Jarvis more than what maybe Tony was expecting, but he noticed that the boy stayed silent until he had made the connection. And when the truth hit his consciousness, Jarvis paled and he had to take a sit.

“Oh…” he simply exhaled. So that was why the boy was so upset and frightened.

He found Tony’s hand over his own. He was crying and couldn’t look at him in the eyes.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered. “You… you can still run away… a part of me hopes you’ll do…”

“And can you manage to do all of the previous steps without me?”

“I- I will find a way…” the boy mumbled. But they both knew he was lying.

Jarvis squeezed his hand and breathed hard.

“Mr. Stark… Tony! Listen to me, now” he said, calmly; he was forced to look at him. “Do you remember when you were little and I read to you the story of knights and other tales? There was one classic story you didn’t like too much, but I’m sure you remember. It was the story of the Lydian king Croesus, who asked the Greek sage Solon who the happiest man in the world was. And the wise man answered that it was not treasures or moneys or power that made a man happy, but that the happiness of a man’s life would be judged only after his death… and by the way he dies!”

He saw by his eyes that he was failing to get the point: that was so Tony, quickly with logic but not so much with philosophy. He smiled tenderly at him.

“What I’m trying to say is that a man usually doesn’t know when and how he was going to die… in this case I will have this gift from you: I will know exactly how time I’ll have left and how it will probably happen. But most of all: I will know that my death would not be in vain… and that makes me already happy!”

For once, Tony was speechless. He shook his head as he was crying openly. Jarvis stood and went towards him, hugging his boy firmly in his arms.

“It’s okay, my boy” he whispered. “I’m an old man… I’ve served your family for my whole life. I’m very glad to continue to serve you even with my death.”

“I don’t want you to die…”

“I know, Tony… that’s why I’ll stay by your side. Besides, it’s just a possibility, isn’t it? But anyway, if it goes as you planned, it would be my choice… I won’t never blame you! My only regret would be to leave you alone…”

Tony remained silent for a moment. Then he said: “On that point… I may have had an idea…”

And Jarvis was revealed the way by which he would be forever by Mr. Stark’s side.

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The pieces are in position and it's almost game on.  
> Next chapter "The Horse" will take us to the point of no return... update on Saturday if I manage!
> 
> Hope you've enjoyed, and, please, leave a comment if you feel to XD


	4. Moves and countermoves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark is back, and the world knows. Unfortunately, his godfather comes back as well. And if he's all but glad to disover Jarvis by Tony's side.  
> So the game is on, and as Tony has predicted, every Stane's decision will lead them close to the edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we meet a character named Joanna Cargill: I've named her like the mutant Frenzy as an homage but she's not her (or maybe she is and we don't know... it doesn't matter to the story!).   
> The indian woman named Kanma Chander is an original character, as the counsellors at the board meetings.
> 
> Hope you like this!  
> Apologies, as always, for language mistakes!

It took two phone calls and a couple of emails to have a bunch of journalists waiting outside Stark Industries when they arrived.

As he had said, Mr. Stark has dressed in high quality casual style with blue jeans, a white shirt and an Italian brand jacket he had send Jarvis to buy him especially for this event. He had also sunglasses and the overall ensemble made him look like a young entrepreneur… or “ a rich brat” like Mr. Stark has defined himself.

That this behavior was but a façade it was evident only to Jarvis, when he had helped him with his tie in the morning because his hands were trembling.

“Do you remember what you have to say when they ask where have you been all these years?” he had asked him.

Tony had nodded, by biting his lips.

“It’s a pleasure to be back among the livings” he said on the cameras a few hours later, on the steps of the laboratory and office of the Stark Industries. “As you may know, it has been a difficult period for me after my parents’ death, but now I’m glad to take back my role as CEO of the Stark Industries. This company is my life as it has been for my father before me, and I will do whatever is in my power to increase our productivity and our role at the service of our country!”

They have alerted the Board members and the main engineers together with the press, and now they were all lined up in front of the main building to wait for the return of Tony Stark, who was still their boss. The absence of Obadiah Stane couldn’t be more evident.

“Mr. Stark!” many journalists shouted. “Could you tell something about these past years? And what about the actual CEO Obadiah Stane? Are the rumors truth about an imminent crack of the company?”

“Hey! Hey! Guys, if you want a piece of me you should buy me dinner first!” he joked with a smirk. That took many aback and made other laughed. “Okay, seriously now. Let’s start with the important stuff: the company is not about to crack! We had some inconveniences, but this shit happens when you manage explosives... I recall that I’ve blown up this same building more than once when I was a kid!”

Several engineers behind him nodded and laughed.

“Ah do you remember that Gary?” Tony asked towards one of them. Jarvis wasn’t sure if the guy’s name was really Gary, before the lad turned purple and nodded frantically.

That was a strategy he had seen used by Howard Stark, and surely the boy must have copied it. Jarvis had to admit that Mr. Stark junior was really good at making shows and attracting everyone’s benevolence. He looked so confident and proud that no one would have guessed how he has passed the last three years of his life.

“So to put it simple: I’m here to show everyone that Stark Industries is a reliable company, and that every possible mistake could be fixed and repaid” he was following. “After we have finished there, I have already scheduled a talk with my friends in the Army to present them some new amazing gifts we will have ready for them! As you can imagine I can’t share the details until authorized by the big Uncle Sam, though!”

“Mr. Stark, what will happen to Mr. Stane? Will he be no more in charge of the company?”

That was the most delicate moment, Jarvis know. He observed well Tony and he could see a little twist at the sides of his mouth and a bit of tension which will not passed unnoticed by a careful observer. Like Stane, for instance.

For the rest, Tony Stark appeared very honest and calm when he sarcastically replied to the journalist: “I seriously hope you’re kidding, Frank! This company owns Obadiah Stane a lot, and I would be the biggest dumbass in the world to think Stark Industries don’t need Stane as vice-CEO! He has been and he will always be an indispensable resource! He has created this company with my father and he has been its backbone when there was no Stark available to take care of this baby! I may be many things, but I’m not an ungrateful bitch!”

He was exaggerating and turning to emotional, and his tone revealed it. Lucky for them, Jarvis as remained in his visual sight and he needed but a look to signal him to cool down.

Obviously the press wanted more on this topic, and insisted with questions over Tony and Stane’s relationship, on where his godfather has kept him all this time, but Tony was able to remain quite vague on that point. Then he promised to come back to them for further questions, and marched inside.

He visited the lab, and shouted at all the things that weren’t working properly. Two minutes and he had already fixed a propulsion, corrected another calculation and thrown in the basket one project because he said it would never worked. It was quite evident that the other engineers were astonished and, some of them, quite angry. Someone marched out by stating aloud their indignation.

But then Tony praised someone else, and he stopped for long to chat with a young Afghani engineer named Ho Yinsen. Mr. Stark seemed to appreciate his work and also his personality, very competent but also modest, like the ones who know their limits but they are constantly curious to learn more. That curiosity is what made Yinsen so attractive to Tony.

Jarvis had to interrupt the brainstorming the two were having, by reminding Mr. Stark that the Army officers he had invited were waiting.

Indeed, Tony had another show to make, this time to save the company.

They had invited friendly high ranked officers: many of them have worked with Howard Stark and already knew the ‘golden boy’ in person or by reputation. And Tony was up to his name: he showed them some new rifles and shotguns he had designed, or other he had improved. He concluded by introducing them the prototype of a new tank specifically designed for desert lands, and which Jarvis was almost certain he had sketched the night before after he had awaken from a nightmare.

When one Colonel pointed out that the last shipment of ballistic missiles was faulty, Tony opened in sincere concern, and offered the humblest apologies of both himself and his company (which were one thing!).

He assured them that the responsible of this mess would have been fired immediately after their meeting, and that he had personally fixed the technical inconveniences. He showed them physical proof of that, and then he went on by stating all the defective shipments were be replaced at complete expenses of Stark Industries… if they would have been so kind to allow them, but most of all him, the son of war hero Howard Stark, the possibility to make amend and to prove the high quality of Stark weaponry.

That was enough for the majority of them. One General went on by remembering anecdotes of the times it was Howard Stark to persuade them with his products like a vendor at a fair. But he had to admit that Howard’s son’s ideas appeared far more promising in terms of efficiency and innovation. They all had to agree that some models were pretty lethal, and some were already fond of the new tank and the firing mechanisms to be installed on jeeps for troops that needed to move fast and shot faster. By the end of the afternoon, Tony had put all the legal and financial department at work to provide different contracts to be signed on sight, while he appeared again with his guests/buyers in front of the press to make the announcements.

When the officers were gone, he summoned all the Board members in a closed-doors meeting.

Jarvis and a recorder were also invited, and he didn’t hide it but put the microphone at the center of the table. After the doors have closed behind his back, Tony hushed all the compliments and congratulations for his recovery with an icy look around and a stoned face. Then he enumerated the many flaws of the company during his absence as well as the ones in that room who would have to take full responsibility for that. He expected their resignation letters on his desk by tomorrow morning at 9 AM, or he would proceed through legal ways… and they only needed to come up in his office for a private talk to know what he meant. He went on by informing the fired counselors that he would have detracted from their payout the sum for fixing and re-shipping the faulty ballistic missiles.

That froze everyone in the room.

Some of them, including one of the three counselors involved in the gang-bang affair, dared to accuse Mr. Stark of improper conduct, of being an arrogant young brat who knows nothing about this company. Another played the pity card, while many others threw all the responsibility of Mr. Stane, since his decisions have doomed the company.

“Maybe I haven’t been clear enough” Tony calmly replied. He assume a posture that Jarvis, as well as many others there, have only seen by Obadiah Stane, with both his fists on the table and the chin protruded against them: it was a very aggressive body language, in an animal way of aggressive. Despite his age and size he appeared really minacious. “I am the CEO and major owner of this company. And as I said, Mr. Stane was and will remain my vice-CEO as he has been with my father. My confidence in his commercial and mediating abilities has not been compromised by an alleged small mistake in a long-lasting career. Besides, the signatures on these contracts, projects and communicates are yours, not Obadiah’s. So you can try to blame the absent, or to take legal action against him, but I still want you out of my company by tomorrow morning! You and all your teams as well! Consider yourself unemployed starting tonight at a minute after midnight! Either you go out the civil way, or you’ll have to deal with me and Stane… your choice!”

They were simply petrified.

“Very well!” Tony said by standing more chilly. “I hope that this will put an end to the present and future misunderstandings on who’s in charge here!”

That was an open attack he was sure they were going to refer to Stane, but he didn’t give them time to think about of it because he quickly added: “From now on, any decision must have the official approval of both myself and Mr. Stane! Obviously we will still discuss with you our main strategic decisions, but only with our joint agreement it will be possible to proceed. And when Obie returns, we will present you a new expansion plan to bring Stark Industries on top also of communication devices: that is the field of the future, and one the Army was already exploring with our opponents. We can’t stay behind any of them, and we won’t!”

He made his point quite clear with a hand on the table.

Then he dropped this harsh attitude and smiled. “Now, gentlemen, for the ones of you who will still work for me tomorrow, I’d be glad if you would make me company at a small dinner I’ve organized in a restaurant not far from here. You will find all the information at the main entrance. If you’d be so kind to wait for me, I’ll join you in ten minutes. Mr. Hancock, I wish to have a word with you in private before you go. Mr. Fishman and Mr. Walyowsky, you’ll find a personal letter waiting for you on your personal mail accounts: I hope it will suggest the right conduct to maintain after you’ve left my presence forever!”

They all went out whispering and murmuring. Some were indeed pleased not to have ended on the guillotine.

Mr. Fishman and Mr. Walyowsky didn’t dare to look Tony in his flaming eyes. Tony and Jarvis would have read in the journals that they have escaped in a Southern America paradise right the same night, but that wasn’t going to save them: three months later they were both found drowned in two different unfortunate accidents while they were swimming. The weird fact was that Mr. Walyowsky didn’t know how to swim. They have denounced Stane, and Tony had sent both him and them proofs of that: they must have known they were doomed. That would have strengthen Stane’s belief that Tony was playing on his side, or at least not against him, so for now he could have tolerated his public arrogant behavior… and Jarvis’s presence.

But now he remained Mr. Hancock who, according to Tony’s retelling of that night, has been the worst. He was the one Tony hated the most for many reasons: he was the one who had put a wiretap in his father’s office, the one who had signaled to Stane that Howard had come back to take Tony’s mother before rushing to the airport, and, finally, he was the one who had hurt Tony the most during the awful night. However he was also the most powerful one: son of a Court supreme member, brother of a senator, and with political aspirations as well other than city counselor and member of different organizations who supported influential politicians in the State. He was not going to be dismissed by a 19 years old brat!

Tony has planned everything, but Jarvis remained in a corner of the room while he fronted Mr. Hancock.

He was scared that the man turned violent, and Tony would have simple been no chance against him in his actual conditions: he was faking well, but he was still quite weak from a physical point of view. And Mr. Hancock was a big larger man, with triple chin and an arrogance equal to his weight.

The two opponents stared at each other for long, with Mr. Hancock’s face turning more and more red in anger.

“I hope you take it back, little bitch!” he erupted.

Tony smirked at him. “Bitch eh? Well, we might say that I am, and I quote yourself, a “slutty naughty boy who deserved to be fucked by a true patriot”!”

Both Tony and Jarvis saw the other man paling. “What… how do you remember that? You… you don’t have a single proof!”

“I’m afraid, Mr. Hancock, that we don’t have a single proof but hundreds of that! You see, my godfather is many things, including a paranoiac strategist. Do you really think he allowed you to touch me, his favorite toy, only as a gift for you and your position or your contacts with the politics? You’re also very stupid other than a bad fucker!”

Jarvis was really uncomfortable, but Tony has been clear: he would have played at their level and torn them to the ground. Being ashamed for what they have done to him would have been seen by an unacceptable flaw that would have undermined his future relationships at every level. Because in certain environment, the news would have been out sooner or later. And rumors only grow.

Now Mr. Hancock has started to shout and to overtly menace both Stark and Stane to have his lawyers at works and also some other friends they didn’t want to meet. And it was not the only thing he said in those 5 minutes of shouting. They didn’t interrupt him until it was over and the bigger man was staring at the younger one, panting.

“Mr. Hancock,” Tony said by stretching on the chair, “Let me see if I’m understanding correctly. You’re menacing not only me but also my vice-CEO Obadiah Stane. You are overtly admitting to have taken part on a gang-bang in raping a barely 17 years old boy who was heavily drugged and suffering of a mental condition, not to mention he was a gay raping. You have also admitted to have friends in the mob and contacts with some terroristic association… something else you want to add before we made you sign your confession?”

“My… what?” he was astonished.

“Your confession” Tony calmly explained. He pointed at the microphone still at the center of the table. “You see, when I’ve started this meeting I was recording this event and I will transmit it to a friendly pal who would love to put your face on the front page of every journals tomorrow morning. And we have pictures too! I can only imagine how your friend in the catholic conservatory church will take when they saw your face or your naked fat belly while you were fucking a teen boy on his fours!”

Jarvis could swear Tony would have killed him with his words if that would have been possible.

Indeed Mr. Hancock was like gasping out of breath. He was going to have an heart-attack or similar, and he started to mutter: “No… no please… please, I… I give you everything… please Tony…”

“I’m Mr. Stark for you, son of a bitch!” the boy exploded. He cooled down a bit and the rephrased: “Obviously we can still stop all of this from happening… but I’ll need to have some information from you. And I need them NOW!”

“Yes… yes, Mr. Stark… whatever you want!”

Tony smirked. “Very well! Like my godfather used to say, there’s always a way to find an agreement. Jarvis here has a list of what we need. You’ll provide him everything while I entertain my confirmed counselors at the party. And don’t try anything against him or that recordings and this one will end up as I’ve said. After Jarvis has finished questioning you, you will disappear from my life like you’ve never existed! Am I clear?”

The big man nodded, but he still had a smirk of scorn in his eyes. He despised him, and he wasn’t hiding it.

Tony would have made him pay for that.

Indeed, two days from that meeting, the news and the journals were all occupied by the sexual scandal involving Mr. Hancock and his association for the re-integration of problematic children in the society. The scandal involved both Mr. Hancock personally and also his family, including his brother and old father: all people Tony and Jarvis suspected to have played a role in the Starks’ homicide at different levels of guilty.

Jarvis has indeed collected from him all the information and recorded confessions they needed, including the fact that Mr. Hancock had been explicitly instructed by Mr. Stane to inform him on Howard Stark’s movements that fatal night. He didn’t declare to be perfectly aware of what was going to happen but he hold them the fees of three people who had been paid for ‘special services’ provided that same night: there was Mr. Hancock’s and Mr. Stane’s signatures, and all three of them were notorious assassins (as Jarvis would have lately discovered).

The pictures of the sexual abuses and the entity of the scandal suggested Mr. Hancock not to wait Stane’s men to find him: he shot himself in the head by evening. He took him two days to finally dying among horrible pains.

“Told you that in the head is dangerous!” Tony would have commented the news, while he was eating his pancakes for breakfast. He didn’t feel an ounce of regret. Jarvis worried for him, but he couldn’t blame him for this. He would have shot that man personally, so he was not the one to be moralist on that point.

That night, though, after having questioned Mr. Hancock, Jarvis had then reached Tony at the party.

He was unsatisfied by not having had the occasion to punch Mr. Hancock and the others… or kill them right on side!

But Tony winked at him while he was making a toast with Mr. Summer and Mr. Peterson, who appeared to have already proposed some new technological lines of development for the activity of the Stark Industries. Mr. Peterson went on by suggesting that Mr. Stark should consider also to explore the field of ecology, and ecological sources of power. That would represent the future in 20 years or less, according to him. Tony considered it carefully, and proposed him to prepare a full report to be discussed at the board in a couple of months.

The dinner closed around 11 PM, with Tony joking on the fact that next time he would have provided more fun. They all went away with a taxi. While the driver was taking them back home, Jarvis felt Tony’s head on his shoulder: he was wasted, emotionally and physically. He needed to sleep! And they weren’t sure to have proper time to recover!

“When do you thing he will call, Mr. Stark?” Jarvis asked while he was sigil the house like he has learnt to do in the past years.

Tony had already his pajamas and looked like a kid who has passed his curfew and was now very sleepy on the couch.

“He won’t call, Jarvis” he stated. “We will find him at our door in two or three days to be optimistic!”

Jarvis frowned. “Are you serious?”

“Do I look like I’m joking?” he scoffed. “He has been alerted since we called the journalists. Some of them, as you very well remember, were among his contacts. Then we made that show with the Army, and for sure the voices has spread quickly. And finally, the whole board meeting affair: that news must have reached him by now. He’s in Iraq and I’m quite sure he’s not in a company that allows you to leave whenever you want to. So we may have a couple of days to fix things at the Stark Industries. And there we will meet him, max two days from now. Mark my words: he will arrive as nothing has happened in these years, whistling and enthusiast.”

“And what do you want me to do?”

Tony smirked at him. “If you can manage to have a giant tray of fresh pistachio pastries, it would be perfect!”

______________________________________________________

Jarvis believed that Tony Stark was amazing, and not just because he was almost his son and he loved him.

He already knew that the boy was a genius inventor, way over his father, but to see how he has managed to regain control over his company in a couple of days after three years of abuses was simply astonishing. Obviously, Jarvis was the only one in the company to know what Mr. Stark has been through. Or so he believed. Tony, however, seemed to believe that at least someone suspected but had said nothing.

“I don’t judge them for being cowards, but I can’t trust them” Tony simply stated.

The day after Tony Stark’s return in charge, all the journals opened with “the return of the heir”, or “the golden boy returns”. There were several invitations to TV programs and interviews, but Jarvis turned them all off.

“You worked well as secretary!” Tony mocked him a bit while he was eating his breakfast.

“I used to do this with your father as well, Mr. Stark. He has never trusted anyone else with his agenda!” The memory was a bit painful.

Jarvis couldn’t refrain to ask himself a series of ‘what if’ about his relationship with Mr. Star senior: what if he hasn’t punched him that night? What if he has understood what was going on between Tony and Stane previously? What if he has spoken out loud about his suspects with Maria Stark, not only Howard? And finally, what if he has opened that damn envelope before it was too late?

But it was not too late, not for Tony at least. He could still help him, save him.

He watched him eating his eggs and bacon, and his toasted bread with butter and jam. He has always been quite an hungry boy, but after days of starvation and after his stomach has recovered he was ready to eat at every hour. For sure, he needed energy to go through the days in front of him.

It was around 8 AM, and they needed to be in the lab in an hour, so they were already late.

Tony has always been more of a night owl, but for a couple of weeks maybe he would have needed to be at work at normal hours, to show himself around and remark who was back in charge.

They arrived at Stark Industries at 9:30, and, as expected, there were several resignation letters on Mr. Stark’s desk. Tony has made clear that he would have used his father’s former office, but after a couple of hours in there he had called an interior designer to renovate everything on that floor.

In the meanwhile he had checked the resignation and made the point with the chief of personnel, a strict Afro-American woman named Joanna Cargill, or simple Miss Cargill, who didn’t allow a smile to anyone. Tony remembered to have been scared of her when he was a kid and she was the vice-chief of personnel. He was still a bit scared of her now that she was the chief. But, as he told Jarvis, she was on the “good list”, that is in the list of people who most likely weren’t working for Stane.

However, Jarvis was in charge to check on her as well as on a series of people while Tony talked with her about the necessity of a new hiring campaign: many engineers, but also accountants and office workers have resigned in the past weeks, quickly jumping off the sinking boat. Tony put every one of them on the ‘grey book’: not guilty but never to be hired again. He needed loyal fellows, not opportunistic brats.

He entrusted Miss Cargill of the hiring of personnel but he would have checked them all personally, especially the ones in key position.

“I need to be clear: I am not questioning your ability in your job, Miss Cargill” he added, unrequested. “You made the selections and the hiring, and I’ll then meet the people. I need to connect with the ones working with me, you know?”

“I understand, Mr. Stark!” she replied, cold as always. “Do you have any particular requests about your personnel?”

Tony looked from her to Jarvis without understanding. “Like what?” he asked.

She sighed: “Like age, sex, ethnicity…”

Tony frowned. “Did my father make this kind of requests?” he asked, but Jarvis was already shaking his head in a negative answer.

Miss Cargill looked at him straight in the eyes beyond her glass and replied: “Your father never enrolled one person in his life. Mr. Stane has always been in charge of the hiring. His requests were usually very specific according for the different roles. If I quote correctly: “nice young ladies for the reception and personnel, no fucking terrorist or yellow faces in the engineer department, no damn faggots…” and many other points. Oh, and with ‘terrorist’ he meant brown-skin and Muslims as well, just to be clear. Mr. Hinsen and other fellows are just interns, so they didn’t count. Should I keep considering these lines for your company, Mr. Stark?”

“Oh!” Tony replied, uncomfortable under the woman’s sight. “I- I suppose I had to know… but as for me, I only need competent pals, miss Cargill! I can’t care less of their gender, sexual preferences, religion or skin tone… We can’t allow other flaws, especially in the upcoming months. And confirms those interns, especially that Hinsen guy! And you may call MIT for doctoral fellas in need of a job or an internship for the technical department… do you think it’s a good idea, miss Cargill?”

“That could be an excellent idea, Mr. Stark!” she replied, writing notes. Jarvis thought that she seemed pleased, since her shoulders have relaxed a bit since they have started the meeting: she was too trying to get a picture of her new boss who could be her son.

“Many technicians and engineers have resigned after your show yesterday” she went on explaining, “so we are in desperate need of people in this department. If you agree, Mr. Stark, we may give priority to that. We lack of personnel also in the accounting office, but we can’t allow ourselves to hire many people for now. I suggest to collaborate with Colleges and start with lower paid temporary internships for the basic levels, and promote people already here to higher ranks and responsibility. I can guarantee for many of them, personally.”

Tony nodded, while he was studying the list of names. Jarvis saw him frowning a bit on one name on the list.

“What about Miss Chander?” he asked, by looking Miss Cargill directly.

Jarvis remembered her name: she has been Mr. Stane’s personal assistant for years, until the explosion at MIT more or less. After that she has taken a maternity leave, and was now back as an accountant.

“She is a decent accountant, but she can manage very well organization and deadlines” Miss Cargill replied without looking away from Mr. Stark’s eyes. Then she added: “I can’t say she’s perfect for the job, but she is competent, and I think she deserved this opportunity. Don’t you agree, Mr. Stark?”

Jarvis realized with horror that this woman knew everything, at least the part regarding Mr. Stane’s abuses on Miss Chander. Maybe she also suspected something on Mr. Stark’s part.

He felt anger mixing to astonishment at the thought that many people had realized that something was wrong but simply didn’t act for fear or personal interest. He wasn’t sure which were Miss Jackson’s reasons, but she must have had some.

But then he saw Mr. Stark opening into a huge smile towards her.

“I agree with you on every point, including this one, Miss Cargill!” he stated. “And as for assistants, I read here that Obie has already two secretaries, and that’s more than enough! As for me, I don’t need one for now, since Jarvis could take care of things as he did with my father!”

Jarvis and Miss Cargill nodded at each other, silently.

They knew each other for a while, but they were both quite private persons. Jarvis would have discovered lately that Miss Cargill was from Tennessee, she had a bunch of brothers and sisters, but that she wasn’t married or had kids on her own. No flaws, no legal issues, and apparently no leverage points.

“Very well, Mr. Stark” she said. Then she took a bunch of documents that Mr. Stark had to sign. “Next we have vacancies, pay checks, maternity leaves and sick leaves. I put the most urgent ones on top: they referred to a couple of our employees actually hospitalized for different reasons. Your father had an insurance policy to cover part of their expenses, do you want to continue with that?”

“Absolutely!” Tony exclaimed immediately. Then he managed to ask with a more serious tone: “Can we allow it now with our budget though?”

She shook her head. “You must talk with the chief accountant, Mr. Stark. But to put it simple, I guess we must cut some expenses until the new contracts with the Army you have managed to obtain only yesterday will translate into pay checks. Until then, you have to make choice, I’m afraid!”

“Okay okay… I’ll talk with the guy… or girl…” Tony replied. Jarvis noticed that he was feeling overwhelmed and maybe also tired: bureaucracy has also bored his father, and with Tony would be the same or worst.

“May I suggest to focus on the personnel now, Mr. Stark?” Jarvis suggested, by pouring him some fruit juice.

“You’re right, Jarvis! May I have a coffee too? With sugar please. Do you want one, Miss Cargill?”

She sounded surprised by the offer, but quickly answered: “Yes, please, Mr. Stark… Mr. Jarvis, with milk but no sugar, please.”

Jarvis left them alone the time needed to collect their coffees. When he was back Tony was overtly snorting at the amount of documents he had to sign, but Miss Cargill was inflexible in passing him the new ones. Jarvis smiled with sadness because he remembered the same scene happening years ago, with Howard being in Tony’s position and a younger but already very strict Miss Cargill passing him documents to sign.

When the woman was gone, Tony let himself on his couch with a sigh.

He closed his eyes and stayed still for a long moment.

“Are you fine, Mr. Stark?” Jarvis asked, worried.

He nodded. “He didn’t leave me alone” he said then.

“Who?”

“Obadiah” Tony replied. He looked at Jarvis and continued: “He sent Miss Chander the day after he left. She had a car accident near the building and she’s hospitalized since then. She is still unconscious in intensive care, and suffered a miscarriage. She was two months pregnant… I- I didn’t know that!”

Jarvis patted his shoulder.

“I’m sorry for her” he said. “But I can’t imagine what would have happened if she didn’t have had that car accident…”

Tony nodded. “I don’t know if it was an accident… but sometimes there are coincidences we can’t plan. One missing variable, like a truck driver who didn’t respect a stop or a kid running across the street… But in this case, I guess we’ve been lucky!”

Jarvis didn’t know if “lucky” was the right word, but they were pass moralism. For sure, Tony had risked his life, but it was now free because of that accident.

“What will you do with Miss Chander now, Mr. Stark?”

“The same I’ll do for all my employees who got into an accident while working!”

“Well, technically…”

“She was Obadiah’s assistant and she was doing what he told her to do, so she was working!” Tony replied with decision. “The company will cover part of the expenses, and when she’ll get out from the hospital I’ll give her a paid vacation period to take care of her other child for a while. Then she’ll come back to this company and she’ll work as one of the head accountants. Not a top rank level, but a medium-high one. I hope that this will take her away from Obie’s radar or that he lost interest in her… he didn’t like damaged toys!”

Jarvis frowned because he knew that Tony was referring both to the poor woman and to himself. But then the boy suddenly changed of humor and asked: “Should we go to lunch? I’m starving…”

They tried the cafeteria, under Mr. Stark’s insistence, where the boss made a show with his employees and the engineers. He was naturally a friendly guy, and his social awkwardness was compensated by his genuine interest in the others’ work, especially if it concerned his company.

In the afternoon, Mr. Stark was supposed to meet with the head of the economic department, but he asked Jarvis to take care of it in the lab, while he contemporary worked on some prototypes.

In a couple of hours he had fixed the faulty ballistic missiles while screwing at the idiots who didn’t assemble them properly. He would have lately revealed to Jarvis that his father has taught him to insert something secret or weird in the projects, so that nobody else could copy their designs.

That explained why Mr. Stark hasn’t fired anyone, but only accepted voluntary resignations.

Jarvis made sure that Tony had food and drink regularly during the afternoon and the evening.

They managed to go home quite late, and he allowed him a cheeseburger with fries on the way back as dinner. Tony seemed extremely pleased, and he was childishly proud of himself.

“Did I do good today?” he asked when they arrived home.

“You did great, Mr. Stark!” Jarvis assured him.

“So… do you think I’m capable to take care of myself and my company? Do you think I need custody?”

Jarvis got the implications. He had to admit that he had completely forgotten that issue.

“I think, Mr. Stark, that no one in Stark Industries will doubt that, especially after your work todays with Miss Cargill and in the lab!” he said.

Tony looked at him weirdly. “But I’m mentally screwed, you know that?” he asked.

“Well, you may suffer some consequences after all what you have had to endure…”

“Yes, but nobody officially knows or has to know, you got that?” he insisted. “So there’ll be no chance I survive a proper psychological report…”

Jarvis was failing at getting the point. “What do you want to do, Mr. Stark?”

“I need those reports back, Jarvis! I mean, the psychological report that put me under Obadiah’s custody. And I need to be sure that there’s no legal way for him to use them against me now!”

Jarvis nodded.

“I got this, Mr. Stark!” he said.

______________________________________________________________

They passed two other days of hard working, and they managed to go home just for sleep.

Tony was a bit exhausted, so Jarvis persuaded him to get a nap every afternoon by using the couch in his fancy new office. He thought that Mr. Stark junior’s office didn’t look like his father’s one at all. He wasn’t sure on the adjective he would have used… but for sure he wouldn’t have called it ‘sober’.

Everything was going fine, though. Tony Stark was on every front pages of economic journals, and then also on some international journals. Apparently the news that Stark Industries have hired many women and “colored people” (a definition that Jarvis had to explain to Tony) had hit the front pages. Tony obviously failed at getting the importance of that, but he realized it was a positive thing and he was very pleased.

It was the morning of the fourth day and they both know what was going to happen. Obadiah was later than expected, and Tony was growing nervous. Jarvis had had quite a time with him the night before, and has resolved to share the bed with the boy if he agreed on stopping the work and go to sleep. He had awaken several times in dread panic, and Jarvis had left the bed light on to avoid further misinterpretation and panic from Tony’s side.

When his alarm ranged at 6 AM (he had to anticipate it to take care of everything), Jarvis found the boy spooned to his side, like he used to do. That took him a tender smile and, without thinking, he caressed his forehead and his hair.

“Five more minutes, Jarvis…” he yawned as always.

“Sleep, Tony. I’ll prepare breakfast…” he said.

As every morning, after he has prepared himself, he put the house in order and made a quick recording of his morning feelings and memories of the past hours, including his eventual dreams. That was a thing that Tony has asked him to do regularly, and he has introduced it in his routine.

He made recordings also when they were at Stark Industries and Tony was in the lab: Jarvis was sure he would have been fine there, so he went upstairs in the former Howard’s and now Tony’s office, locked the door, checked for bugs and then started the recordings.

Tony has explained that he didn’t need to follow a precise order, but just to state the date and the place at the beginning of each recording and then started to report his thoughts on every facts he has been through, including very personal ones. He has been very demanding on this point, by assuring him nobody including Tony himself would ever use or listen to this material. He has explained that it was needed to model that Artificial Intelligence he wanted to name “J2” in his honor and which could take his place in case… well, in case something very bad would happen.

Although Jarvis was not fully persuaded that an AI could be similar to a human being, he knew that Tony needed this to maintain his nerves in the forthcoming months and to fight that evil monster named Obadiah Stane. And Jarvis would have done everything for his boy, so he has accepted the recordings.

After the first weird moments, he has also found it therapeutic. He has remembered things he thought to have long forgotten, like Tony’s first words (“papa” by pointing at him, by the way) or the adventures with agent Carter, the Artic expeditions to find Captain America, Howard’s jokes and flirts around the world, his own personal romantic adventures, till the final moments with Betty. And Mr. Stark senior’s death and the letters he sent to him.

“How things went from good to bad and then to worse” he has concluded during one of the recordings.

The morning recording usually lasted 30’, from 7 to 7:30, when he prepared breakfast and woke Tony up.

This morning he had recorded about Tony’s nightmares, by remembering when they have started and by ending in the usual self-complain for not having recognized the boy’s sufferings. He also noted that the boy has started to suffer from morning memory losses after age 12, because before he had had problems with nightmares but he always knew where he was when he woke up. Since from Howard’s notes it was clear that this disease has started when the boy was at MIT, there was the possibility that it was a consequence of Howard’s own beating on the boy that awful night. That, plus all the physical and mental abuses Tony was already going through. And what has happened on that fatal New Year’s Eve had worsened the situation.

Jarvis concluded his morning recording by hoping that in the future his boy would find someone, either boy or girl, that helped him through all this nightmare. Someone who didn’t need to remind him every morning of whom he or she was and on his/her relationship with him. Someone who would bring warmth in his boy’s life.

He smiled at idea of his boy falling in love, just like it has happened to his father Howard when he has met his future wife Maria. He remembered the idiotic face Howard used to make when Maria talked to him. And the idea of Tony having kids, maybe a little girl with big brown eyes, was simply adorable. Jarvis didn’t believe to live enough to see this, but it was a good thought to start the morning with.

Especially because he knew what that day has set aside for them.

Because after three full days since the “return of the heir”, there was no way that Obadiah Stane wouldn’t have shown up at the company or maybe, according to Tony, directly at their house for breakfast.

That was why Jarvis that morning didn’t go out to collect the journals, but he phoned the concierge and asked for this small favor. The night before he has also called their favorite bakery and asked for a tray of pistachio pastries, as Tony has explicitly requested, and they have already been delivered at the janitor’s quarters.

Jarvis went down to collect both the pastries and the journals, by paying as always to the concierge a generous tip.

With a bit of malice, he provided the man a gossip he was sure he would have reported immediately to the press: Mr. Stark was expecting Mr. Stane to arrive for a breakfast meeting. Since the former CEO ad interim of the Stark Industries has disappeared at the beginning of the crisis and he was nowhere to be found, it was surely a news that the journalists would have been interested in.

When he went back, he prepared breakfast as always.

He discovered that Tony was already up, despite he was sit in the bed looking at a point in front of him. Jarvis noticed that he was moving rhythmically and mumbling the same song he kept singing when he needed to calm down.

He woke up from his trance once Jarvis sat beside him and touched him on the shoulder.

“He will come today…” he said. “If he doesn’t maybe he’s death… Gosh, I hope he’s death! But I doubt that…. people like him just don’t simply disappear! And if he dies, he will drag me with him… don’t kill him when you see him, Jarvis! I know you want to stab him with that kitchen knife you keep polishing… just don’t! You’d end up in jail and I under custody or in a mental institution!”

He had taken his hands and he was deadly serious in his concern, almost terrified.

“I admit I’ve had the thought” Jarvis replied, before smiling sadly at him. “But I can assure you, Mr. Stark, that I will conform to your desires... as long as he doesn’t try to hurt you, that is to say! Because you can’t ask me to stay there and watch him beating you or worst… and you can’t ask me to go away by knowing what is about to happen! I have my limits, Mr. Stark. Do we have an agreement on this point?”

Tony nodded.

“Good. Now take a shower, while I’ll prepare you a fresh suit for the day. Do you have a preference?”

“Uhm, the red one… or Turkey red, as you’ve called it.”

They had managed to do shopping one evening because Mr. Stark needed to maintain his appearance and status, thus needing different suits to appear at work every day like he was going to a party.

He had a change of clothes in the lab, even if the last days he was so focused on work he had forgotten and ruined one of the new suits. Jarvis had ordered him others, since the boutique now had Mr. Stark’s measures.

Tony was tanning a bit since now he was eating three meals a day at least, but it was evident that he needed more time to recover completely from the last years. He still had problems with spicy food, and Jarvis had to impose him to go slow with Chinese and Thai, at least when spices are too involved, although Tony was fond of both of them.

As always, he helped him with his tie, and took a moment to appreciate how handsome the boy looked in that suit and with that goatee. His boy has really grown up!

“What?” Tony asked by seeing his look.

“Nothing, Mr. Stark!” he said with a smile. “I was just being… well, emotional!”

He smiled back at him. “Let’s have breakfast, Jarvis! And what’s up in the news? Are they talking about me again?”

“They’re always talking about you, Mr. Stark!”

It was around 9, and they were still talking on the foreigner politics of the US, and the possibilities for the Stark Industries to take advantage of the tense situation in the Middle-East, when their doorbell rang.

They exchanged a look, then Tony nodded, tense but determined. It could be only one person, and that was confirmed when Jarvis went opening the door.

And when he saw Stane standing there, face opened in a smile that immediately faded away when he saw him, Jarvis seriously considered to punch or strangle him with his bare hands, without caring about the consequences or the promise he has just made.

But then he heard Tony’s voice behind him greeting: “Oh, Obie! It’s nice to see you! Come in, please! Jarvis, could you make us a coffee?”

“Sure, Mr. Stark!” he answered.

But he took him 10 seconds before being able to move away and let the other man in.

He was only when he met Tony’s eyes that he regained his behavior and managed to go to the kitchen to prepare coffee.

Tony and Stane followed him, and the boy indicated the older man to take a chair at the breakfast table.

While Jarvis was pouring coffee, Tony went to the fridge and took the tray of pastries.

Jarvis noted that Stane looked a bit older than he remembered, and surely he didn’t look really “fresh”: his skin was a little browner than usual, and his beard needed to be fixed. He must have run away from wherever he was hiding as soon as the news of the return of the Stark heir has reached him.

“Freshly made this morning” Tony announced, by pushing the tray towards Stane. “Pistachio. Your favorites, if I remember correctly… I’m sorry but nowadays I don’t remember many things…”

Jarvis was sure that Obadiah has for once been taken aback by the situation and was studying them to know how to react.

That was the first choice he had to make, the first crossroad in Tony’s diagram.

Although Stane didn’t know about Wenn’s diagrams or chess games or the complex plan Tony has made after three years of imprisonment. All he knew, from Jarvis’s perspective, was that he had thought to have completely subdued an underage boy and now he saw him fresh and confident in his new red suit, his face on the front pages of the journals… and another older man by his side who cared about the boy and who would have cut Stane’s throat in one second if he touched the boy.

Jarvis’s felt that Stane was uncomfortable and that he was not expecting many things, but especially not him.

Awkward moments passed with either men saying a thing. Then Obadiah made his choice.

He smiled widely at Tony, completely ignoring Jarvis and he said: “Oh boy! I’m glad to see that you’re fine!”

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Tony replied with a fake astonishment.

“Well, when I left in a hurry you were a little instable and wasted…”

“It tends to happen when you got drugged, and whipped for hours before being left bleeding in bed with a huge butt plug in!” Tony’s eyes were as sharp as his voice. “Oh there was also the rape yes… and no food around… but I’ve managed, as you can see. Also thanks to Jarvis, obviously!”

Obadiah was staring at him like he wasn’t believing that this was really happening.

His eyes moved from Tony to Jarvis, who was just staring at him with his muscles tensed: one word from Mr. Stark and he would have killed him, that was what his body language was communicating. And maybe also the kitchen knife he was polishing.

The other man frowned.

“I- I thought Miss Chander was going to attend at your needs…” Stane managed to mumble.

“Haven’t you heard?” Tony asked, rhetorically. It was pretty obvious that Obadiah has been sent back in a hurry and didn’t know anything about the situation. “She is in hospital, intensive care they told me. She has been unconscious for over ten days or so they said. She had a car accident while she was coming at your apartment, apparently. She miscarried your baby too.”

Jarvis saw panic in Stane’s eyes and also another feeling, way close to sadness. The idea hit him in that moment: the thought that Miss Chander was expecting from Stane, not from her actual husband, finally giving him the heir he had desired for long. That Stane’s wife was sterile was known, and that he couldn’t divorce because of her social status was also known. Did that news change things?

Jarvis looked at Tony who was maintaining eye contact with Stane.

Probably he had already planned all of this. So Miss Chander was just one of the pawn of the black king, and now she could be discarded. The fact that she has not been abandoned was only due to Tony’s generosity. Jarvis thought that, after all, he was still a caring guy.

“I- I didn’t know any of that!” Stane managed to say. “Poor, Miss Chander! I imagine her desperation after losing the boy, and then the work…”

“Why should she lost her work?” Tony asked.

“Well, I suppose…”

“Miss Chander is a good accountant, or so I’ve been told. We’ll give her time to recover and then a promotion. She’ll work among the head accountants. And we’re hiring new interns to do the ordinary job. For now, at least, until our new contracts with the Army took off!”

Obadiah wasn’t really surprised, so he must have already known that. He confirmed that himself while he said: “Oh yes, I heard of that! Good job with the tanks for desert: very much appreciated, I hope! But what about the ballistic missiles?”

“All forgiven, Obie, don’t worry! I’ve used my charisma, and most of all… my name! You see? There must always be a Stark running Stark Industries. And it will always be one!”

That was a direct verbal punch and got Stane right in his face.

His reaction could range from blind fury to an attempt manipulation: first case scenario, Jarvis would have had all justifications for killing him, especially after he had admit the abuses and to know a military secret he wasn’t supposed to know.

That there was a hidden recording, Stane obviously didn’t know about, and he probably didn’t suspect either, since he wasn’t apparently fully aware from whom Tony has got help.

“Well, I suppose that you don’t need someone else’s help in managing your company! However, someone may wonder if you’re up to the ask after your recent emotional collapse!” Stane practically spitted.

So he had choose the second path: blackmailing, to be followed by manipulation. It was the most likely hypothesis, but Jarvis has hoped that Tony was wrong… although he rarely was!

Now it was Tony’s turn to fake surprise. “Really, Obie? Do you want to play that card now? Now that I have manage to have our company back on the trails? Now that the contrasts with the Army are raining from the sky again? Now that I’ll need you the most?”

“What do you mean?” Stane asked, suspicious.

“Obie, we’re talking of doubling our income in one year or less!” Tony was enthusiast. “Haven’t you read the reports I was sending to you in the last three days? Oh sure, maybe you didn’t have access to mails… but the journals? Our title on the Stock Market got a +20% in one day after I’ve been back, and another +15% yesterday when we signed something with the Navy! And you want to… what? Present your resignations?”

Stane’s eyes opened in astonishment and greed. Jarvis remembered what Howard used to say: greedy has always been Obadiah’s flaw… sooner or later, it would have been his doom!

“Are- are you joking, boy?”

“I’m deadly serious, Obie! I won’t joke on our company!” he emphasized again the plural adjective.

“Our?” the other asked, skeptical.

Tony nodded. “Listen, Obie” he said with a low voice. “We had... let’s call them hard times. But resentment is corrosive and I don’t want any! And I am not my father… I don’t want to cut you off the company you help creating! So, why don’t we leave the past in the past and move together to a really bright future? Call it a truce or whatever… Just look at these prospects! I haven’t made it, there are on this morning Economists… do you think to be rich? You’re about to become a billionaire!”

Stane looked at the graphs printed on the journal Tony was handing him. The title itself explained a lot: “Stark Industries hit the sky”. The older man studied both the journal and the former boy in front of him. He was tempted by the numbers, they all knew that, but he was also quite skeptical.

“Why?” he asked directly, cold eyes glancing from Tony to Jarvis. “What’s your income in this?”

“Oh, it’s quite easy!” Tony said. He finally took a chair in front of him. “Technically you’re still my caregiver, because of those mental reports you made up… Don’t worry for Jarvis: he knows everything but he won’t say a word without my consent and I’ve asked him to keep it secret!”

“Really?” Stane was very acid in asking that directly to Jarvis.

“Of course, Mr. Stane!” Jarvis replied, firmly. “I’m at Mr. Stark’s service. I’ve worked for the Starks all my life, and I won’t certainly stop now. I’ll do everything Mr. Stark commands.”

“Everything?

“Everything.”

The menace was clear, but Tony just waved it away like it didn’t matter.

“I want to be honest with you, Obie” he said. “You hurt me… especially when you trade me to those men…”

“It was a debt I had… you had to understand, boy: they asked me to give you in, and I had no choice…”

“Don’t worry for that! I understand your position… and I’m sure you’ll take care of them after you saw their disrespectful declarations on your person. We are on the same spot there! You cover for me and I’ll cover for you with them. I’ve fired them, because of what they’ve said about you. So, as I said, I want to put everything in the past… if we both wanted it to be!” he sounded so honest that, for a moment, Jarvis believed him too.

That Stane has believed him was pretty clear when he asked: “So what do you want us to do from now on?”

“Well, that’s simple!” Tony exclaimed. “I want to create stuff, Obie! That’s my life and the only thing I can do! And the only thing that could save our company! So, that’s my proposal: I’ll manage the creative part and you the economic one. You’ve always been the shark of Wall Street, and with you as vice-CEO we will give the company the stability needed to launch it in the future! There’s a new era of technology in front of us, and I want to ride that wave… but I need you by my side! You’re the only one who can manage this, Obie!”

Jarvis noted that he was arrogantly pleased. “You’re but right, boy! You said doubling the incomes? What about triplicating them?”

“That sounded nice, indeed! So, I suspect, we have an agreement?”

“An agreement?” Stane sounded suspicious again.

“Well, yes, an agreement” Tony said again. “You took back your place as vice-CEO, and we divided the incomes 50-50 as it has to be. In exchange, you’ll have a judge or lawyer or whatever declaring I don’t need official custody and that I can perfectly run my business and my life. And we put aside all this awful situation and do what both of us do better: money! I’ll create the candies, and you’ll be the candy man who sells them… the higher the income the better! And, believe me, Obie, I’m going to create the most deathly candies for our company!”

Jarvis saw that Obadiah was really astonished, like he wasn’t believing his luck. For sure he was suspecting they were up to something. But then his greedy and arrogance prevailed, and he accepted to shake the hand Tony was stretching towards him.

“Okay, my boy!” he said. “You’ve got this round, I have to say! Good! How do we proceed?”

“Well, first we eat these amazing pastries!” Tony said with a smile. “Then we go downstairs together and face the journalists with a common statement of agreement… I’ve heard they’re already assembling there!”

“Yeah, they’ve already stopped me when I came in… like someone has alerted them!” Stane said, by launching a malevolent look towards Jarvis.

“Oh! They are there since Mr. Stark appeared at the company!” the butler replied. “More coffee, Mr. Stane?”

“No, thank you, Jarvis” he had spitted his name, but Jarvis didn’t care. He was too happy that Mr. Stark’s plan has worked. The boy was really able to predict moves and counter-moves of his opponent.

“It went well” he commented, while they were aiming at the Stark Industries.

After the common statement, the pats on the shoulders and the reconciliatory hug, Stark and Stane had taken separate ways towards the company. Mr. Stane loudly lamented to have jetlag and to need to rest. He would have passed by in the office in the afternoon.

So Jarvis has took the car they’ve recently purchased and personally drove Mr. Stark into New York traffic.

“Well, yeah… but not perfectly” he heard Tony lamenting from the back seat. “Why did you challenge him liket that, Jarvis?”

“How did I?” Jarvis asked by looking at him from the back mirror.

Tony sighed. “The knife… and the journalists too! Did you call them, didn’t you?”

“Oh that…” Jarvis blushed. “It has been but a side-thought… just to upset him…”

“That was childish!” Tony replied, harsh. “And the way you looked at him… like you were about to cut his throat at any minute!”

“I’m sorry but what did you expect?” Jarvis asked back, frustrated. “That I just poured coffee and served pastries like a normal servant? I saw you being born, boy, and then I found you bleeding, malnourished and raped by that… monster! And you’re asking why I wasn’t more cozy? Well, you’re a genius! Just imagine!”

In Jarvis’s memory, that was the first time he has shouted against his boy. He knew to have hurt him with his words, he knew. But he too was very tensed after that encounter.

“Apologies… but I’m not a computer, Mr. Stark” he added with a calmer tone. “I’m sorry if this disappoints you… I try my best to stick to your plan, I promise. But for me the most important thing is your well-being!”

“I know…” Tony murmured. “It’s just… that was exactly the behavior that could cause your death!”

Jarvis looked back at him. “I’ve thought we already knew and agreed on that point, Mr. Stark. And I’ve assumed the risk willingly. So what’s the issue now?”

“That I don’t want you to die…” he heard him whispering.

When he turned his head, he saw Tony Stark crying silently with the front pressed on the windows, looking at the traffic passing while they were reaching Stark Industries main lab.

The Horse and Bishop closing back in protection of the King. It was called castling maybe…

And that was phase 2 of their plan.

“How much do we have, Mr. Stark?” Jarvis asked a few hours later, while they were peacefully working in the CEO’s office.

“Difficult to say… but months for sure. Maybe one year and a half… He has lost his contacts, and he has been menaced if the small scars on his hands are telling the truth” the boy replied. “And if I’m right he hasn’t told his ‘friends’, whoever they are, that he was abusing me… or maybe that I was alive. So he’s in deep trouble now. But he’ll get back his contacts and he’ll receive new instructions. He needs to control me again, or so he will be told to do. Remember, Jarvis, Obie is the king in our fight, but he’s taken order from a Queen I haven’t identified yet, but he or she must be very high ranked. A shadow in the background of every moves Stane made… do you know Queens are the most dangerous pieces in the chessboards?”

“Of course I know, Mr. Stark! Who did you play chess with after our Italian trip?” Jarvis asked with a smile.

The boy stopped what he was elaborating in his smile to turn and smile back at him. Jarvis saw like an old sadness in those big brown eyes.

“May I ask you a favor, Mr. Stark?”

“Of course, Jarvis!”

“Could you please refrain to look at me like I was already death? We still have months to spend together, and I want you to remember them with joy not sadness!”

That took Tony aback. “Oh!” he frowned a bit. “I guess you’re right…”

Jarvis moved closer to pat him the shoulder. “It’d be fine, Tony” he said. “We still have time… and as you said yourself, maybe you’ll find Stane’s Queen or King or whatever… and we’ll end this game sooner than expected!”

“It would be nice…” Tony replied.

But Jarvis knew he didn’t believe it really: because Tony Stark was blessed by genius and his genial mind has calculated the possibilities of each move to happen.

And Tony Stark was rarely wrong in his predictions or programs. To be always right was the Starks’ curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote and re-wrote the scene with Stane arriving at Tony and Jarvis's house at least five time. I'm still not fully persuaded by the dynamics here and by the dialogues... but here it is!
> 
> If you like it or if you have suggestions or opinions, please leave a comment or send me a message!
> 
> And brace yourself for next chapter with an evocative title: "Sacrifice".

**Author's Note:**

> I have to say Jarvis is one of my favorite characters in Marvel comics, and I've loved to use is POW for this story... even if we all know where this leads us, for now let's just think that Jarvis has managed to rescue Tony! But now he has an important dilemma to solve: what to do to help his boy?


End file.
